Face of the Enemy
by Ceressky
Summary: I am very sorry that I never finished uploading this story. I doubt anyone will read it, but this is for my own peace of mind. I actually finished writing this probably more than 2 years ago and just never uploaded all of it. Heero x OC Sequel to Circl
1. Face of the Enemy: Chapter 1

Standard Disclaimer #111010: Oh boy, here we go again. I don't own Gundam Wing or any of its characters. The only character that belongs to me is Arys Walker, so please don't take her. You can take all the others if you want. :-)

Face of the Enemy

Chapter 1

By Ceressky

The Eypon hovered above the mass of wreckage that used to be Romefeller's assault force. Zechs Marquise shook his head at the evidence of destruction floating on the waves below him. He could tell from looking at the circumference of the wreckage that the assault force had been wiped out with one single blast.

"What could have done this?" He asked aloud.

Then, a blip appeared on his radar. A human signature. Zechs brought the Epyon down close to sea level. Ahead of him, a body floated on the crest of a wave. He flew closer. Then, he recognized the form magnified on his screen. It was that girl who had come for Heero.

"Arys Walker."

Arys' face was calm, peaceful, and ethereal. Zechs was afraid that she was dead. He picked her up in the hand of the Epyon and brought her to shore, where he gently laid her on the sand. The cockpit of the Epyon popped open and Zechs walked out to see if his fear was indeed true. He touched her pale face, but she remained still. Zechs took her wrist and felt for a pulse.

"Please be alive." Zechs did not know why he wished for her to be alive. He hardly knew the girl. He had only heard about her from Treize and that had been a long time ago.

He felt her pulse flutter a bit, and Zechs sighed with relief. She was alive, but she was badly injured. There were numerous scrapes and bruises all over her body, and she was still unconscious. Zechs picked her up in his arms and wondered how he would get her to a hospital. He was about to place her back on Eypon's palm when the girl stirred slightly. Zechs looked down at her as her eyes flickered open. He waited a few seconds until empty gray eyes stared up at him. She studied his face for a few moments and then spoke.

"What happened?" 

"I don't know" was his honest reply.

"Oh." She struggled from his arms and managed to stand on her feet. Zechs supported her with an arm about her waist. 

"You're injured."

Arys raised an arm experimentally. She gave him a puzzled glance. "I feel no pain." She frowned. "In fact, I feel nothing at all."

Zechs stared at her. The girl looked like she had been in an explosion and she felt nothing? How could she walk about as if there were nothing wrong?

Arys glanced at him. Now, her previously blank gray eyes were filled with confusion. "I don't even remember my own name." Her eyes narrowed. "Who are you?"

Zechs stood with his arms crossed over his chest. "I saved your life."

Arys tried to walk away from him and almost fell to the ground. Zechs caught her in his arms again..

"There's something wrong with my right leg. It's not working right."

Zechs examined her leg. Her ankle hung at an odd angle to the rest of her leg. "I think it's broken."

Arys gave him a wry smile. "Thanks for saving my life, but I think it might have been better if you had let me die."

Zechs was not amused. "It would have been better for both of us."

Arys ignored the callous statement. "Well, as soon as you dump me off at a hospital somewhere, I can take care of myself."

"I can't do that."

Oh, so you're going to kill me."

"No."

Arys stepped away from him, trying to stay on her feet without falling over. "No? Then, what do you plan to do with me?"

"Nothing. You'll have to heal on your own."

Arys grimaced. "I'm perfectly capable of doing that. There's a first aid kit in my..." Arys looked around. "Where's my...?" She hesitated.

Zechs finished for her since she couldn't think of the word. "Gundam?"

"Is that what I'm trying to say?" Arys shook her head. "I can't remember anything." Her eyes pleaded with him to help her understand. "Who am I?"

Zechs took her arm, his ice-blue eyes raking over her face. "Your name is Arys Walker." He pointed a finger to his chest. "My name is Zechs Marquise. We're both Gundam pilots."

Arys looked up at Eypon. "That's your Gundam?"

"Yes."

"Where is mine?"

Zechs motioned to the ocean and the husks drifting on the waves. "Out there. On the ocean floor in pieces."

Arys looked out at the ocean. She studied it for a few moments and then shook her head, bewildered.

"I... I don't remember."

"You self-destructed."

"I did? How do you know?"

"I don't. I assumed that from the level of destruction of the assault force. Only a Gundam's self-destruct device could do that much damage."

"Why? Who was I fighting?"

Zechs sighed. He was beginning to feel as if he were talking to an inquisitive child who could not stop asking questions. But Arys was not a child, not at heart anyway. She had simply lost her memory completely. 

"Romefeller."

Arys' brow furrowed as she tried to remember. "Romefeller..."

"You have much to learn, Arys."

Arys nodded, then glanced up at him, her gray eyes wide. "Will you be my teacher?"

Zechs smiled slightly. "Child, I'll teach you all I know about this war."

The Arys who had existed before the battle shone for a few seconds through the child-like innocence. "Good."

Zechs had her sit down on the ground. She gingerly poked her ankle, as if touching it would bring the pain it was supposed to. She shrugged. Zechs almost laughed at the sight. He was standing on the beach with a girl who could not feel any pain, and he had already told himself that he would take care of her. Relena would be proud. 

"I have a first-aid kit in my Gundam. I'll take care of your injuries and then we'll find a place to spend the night."

"All right, Zechs."

_____________

"Heero, hey Heero!" Duo's voice pierced through the haze in Heero's mind and Heero slapped the comm button. Duo's image materialized in front of him.

"What is it, Duo?"

"Are you all right, man?" Duo looked worried. "You've been really quiet."

Heero nodded. "I'm fine. Just thinking." He glanced up from Duo's image to study the stars weaving by his Gundam. For some reason, they reminded him of Arys.

"Arys?"

Heero swept a hand across his eyes. "I can't believe she's dead. I keep thinking of when she said goodbye to me in the storage chamber, of her face when she told me she loved me right before the explosion." Heero buried his head in his hands. "I can't get her out of my mind."

Duo gave Heero a sympathetic look. "Do you think it's possible that she survived?"

Heero shook his head. "Not unless she somehow managed to escape from her Gundam before it exploded."

"Knowing Arys, it's something she would do."

"I... I don't want to get my hopes up." Heero straightened up and reached for his flightstick. "Duo, I need to go somewhere, alone."

"Where?"

"Back to Earth."

"But why, Heero? I would think that'd be the last place you'd want to go."

Heero shook his head. "I need to do something."

"What?"

"Conquer the Zero System."

"Why Earth, though?"

"I don't know. I just feel closer to... her there."

Duo nodded in understanding. "Well then, good luck, Heero. I'm going to head back to the colonies and see if I can find Quatre or Trowa."

"Goodbye, Duo." Heero yanked his flightstick and turned the Zero around. 

Duo watched as the Zero blasted away, heading back to Earth.

"I hope you find what you're looking for, Heero." Duo sighed. "I hope that we all do."

_____________

A group of pilots sat inside a roadside diner/tavern. All of them were normal pilots, except for one. The bartender carefully observed every person who came into his establishment. One pilot in particular interested him. His long blond hair hid most of his face. He sat at the counter, his head down, eyes closed. He kept twirling the glass in his hand on top of the counter. It was not a nervous gesture; it seemed to be a deliberate habit that helped him to focus. 

The bartender's gaze moved to the young woman standing by the door. She too stood with her head down, eyes closed. He was sure she was no pilot. She could not have been more than fifteen. Her dark hair cascaded down her back in rippling waves. The casual black pants, belted black jacket, and black leather boots she wore spoke of wealth. She wore no hat so her features were clearly visible to him. She had a delicately featured face, a little pale and thin, but beautiful nonetheless in a cold sort of way. It was as if her face had been chiseled from stone. The girl raised her head suddenly, and her eyes focused on him. He immediately turned away but not before he had caught the flash of steel-gray in her eyes. He shivered. Yes, she was beautiful but there was a dangerous air about her. He risked another glance at her to find that she had stepped into the shadow of the front door. He looked out the window to see that the trucks outside were getting ready to leave. Pilots began filtering out of the tavern, heading for their trucks. The blond-haired pilot remained where he was, eyes still closed.

"Hey, buddy, why aren't you leaving with the rest of the pilots?"

The pilot raised his head, silent. Ice-blue eyes pierced the air between the bartender and the pilot. The bartender shivered again. 

"He's not a pilot," The woman at the door answered, coming out of the shadows for a few moments. 

The man raised a hand and she instantly melted back into the shadows. Apparently, they had some kind of unspoken communication going on between them. 

The bartender shrugged to hide his discomfort and went back to wiping the counter.

"She's right. I'm not a pilot." The man's deep voice interrupted the bartender's work.

"Then, what are you?"

"I am..." The man shook his head. "I don't know."

The bartender sighed. "Well, I suppose you're entitled to keep your business to yourself."

"Thank you."

Five men burst into the diner. All were dressed in unfamiliar uniforms, except for the leader. He wore a blue vest over his khaki uniform. 

"Are you Milliardo Peacecraft?" The leader asked as he approached the counter.

The young woman stepped out of the shadows, unnoticed, and stood behind the group of men as they gathered around the blond man at the counter. She pulled a gun from an unseen pocket and held it ready at the leader's head.

I knew she was dangerous. The bartender decided to go to the other end of the counter and remain uninvolved.

The blond man raised his head, staring straight ahead instead of at the speaker. "I no longer go by that name. My name is Zechs Marquise."

The young woman moved to the left until she was capable of covering the whole group from out of their line of sight.

"Fine, Zechs Marquise. Will you come with us?"

Zechs smiled absently. "I suggest that you ask more politely or the young lady standing behind you will make sure that you never bother me again."

The whole group whirled around to see a slip of a girl holding a gun on them with practiced ease. Her eyes were distantly cold.

"Arys, if they move a muscle, shoot them." Zechs finally turned around to face the man in the blue vest. "I warn you. That young lady is a sharpshooter. She'll kill you before you can even get your gun out from its holster."

"I don't planning on killing anybody, Zechs Marquise." The leader's voice was completely calm.

Zechs placed his hands on his knees. "Then, what do you want?"

"We need you and your Gundam, Zechs."

"Why?"

"To fight for the White Fang."

Zechs stood to his feet. He towered over the leader. "I have heard of White Fang. Your purpose is to defeat OZ."

"That is correct. And we need your help."

"Our purposes coincide. I accept." 

The leader put out his hand. "My name is Quinze."

"Quinze, do you have the machinery to recover a Gundam at the bottom of the sea?" Zechs merely looked down at Quinze's hand as if it were a strange animal. Quinze soon withdrew it.

Quinze gave him a puzzled look. "Well, yes, we have procured a few ships and submarines. We're planning on selling them soon though. We have quite an ambitious project to finance."

"We will only need them once. Arys, come here."

Arys holstered her gun and came to stand beside Zechs. 

"Arys Walker, this is the leader of the White Fang, Quinze."

Arys nodded slightly, her face empty of emotion. Quinze nodded back, chilled by the girl's utter detachment.

"Arys is also a Gundam pilot. However, while mine is hidden, hers lies at the bottom of the sea. She self-destructed to destroy an entire Romefeller assault force."

Murmurs swept through the men standing behind Quinze. Only Quinze remained unimpressed. "Is she with you?"

The girl herself replied to his question. "Yes." Her voice was low, almost too low for a girl's.

Quinze touched a hand to his temple, fixing his glasses, an obvious nervous gesture. "Then, she is welcome as well."

Arys smiled coldly. "Thank you, Quinze."

Quinze shuddered involuntarily.

______________

Zechs trudged up the snow-covered hill, wondering how White Fang was faring at finding Arys' Gundam. He knew that more than likely the Gundam was shot to pieces, but if White Fang wanted it bad enough, Quinze would find a way to put it back together again. He topped the hill and looked down at the snowdrift lying at the base of the other side. Underneath the blanket of snow, lay the Eypon.

"Well, Epyon, looks like we've found our purpose in life." Zechs smiled grimly. "Destroy OZ."

Zechs turned his head up to the sky and studied the soft flakes floating down to land on his head. "It's so peaceful out here, so pure, so unlike what we both are, Eypon."

______________

Arys scanned the screen in front of her. Her finger shot out to trace a shape coming to focus on the screen. "There. That's my Gundam."

Quinze pushed up his glasses and punched a button on the console. "We've got it. Subs one and two head for these coordinates. Help sub three."

"Understood."

"Object confirmed. It is a Gundam. Attaching to hoist now."

The ship groaned slightly as the hoisting cable tightened suddenly. Arys licked her lips, tasting the snow that had landed on them. She made her way through the ship's crew to the deck and watched as the cable lifted her Gundam from its temporary grave in the ocean depths. With another groan of the ship, the Gundam rose halfway out of the water and Arys peeked over the rail to inspect it as it rose even further into the air. Her Gundam was missing an arm and half of its right leg, but otherwise it looked repairable. Instinctively, Arys reached up behind her ear and tapped her transmitter.

Silverwind.

Arys jerked back slightly. She remembered her Gundam's name! Zechs would be glad to know that. He had been trying to help her get her memory back for the past month but nothing had worked. 

Silverwind's eyes flashed for a moment and then went dark.

Arys, you are alive. That is good.

Arys smiled. 

"Silverwind, it is good to see you again. Now, I can use what Zechs has taught me."

A few of the crew members looked at her, puzzled. Why was she talking to her Gundam? None of them had seen the Silverwind's eyes flash in reply to Arys' mental call.

Silverwind was unable to respond. The crane heaved the Gundam onto the deck and the ship dipped slightly. Quickly, the ship regained its equilibrium and Arys stumbled over to her Gundam. She put a hand on the remains of its severed leg. 

"Rest for now, Silverwind." 

She turned to Quinze, who was eyeing her with something akin to fear. 

"Do you have engineers who can repair it?"

The fear swept off his face. He looked pleased. "We have something better than that. We have the engineers who actually built your Gundam. I'm sure that with a little persuasion, we can convince them to rebuild your Gundam for you."

Arys nodded. "Excellent. Now, we will defeat OZ together, Zechs Marquise."

A few of the crew members behind her gasped. Arys looked up to see that the Epyon hovered above the ship, its eyes glowing eerily through the falling snow. Its appearance reminded her of a story she had read once, when, she couldn't remember. About a man who was visited by three ghosts. The Epyon resembled the image Arys had in her head of those ghosts.

"I see they found it, Arys." Zechs' voice filtered through the ship's comm system. "It appears to be in fair condition."

Arys nodded, knowing that Zechs was looking at her on his comm screen. She walked over to the comm console and gazed down at Zechs' image on the screen.

"Zechs, White Fang has the Five in their clutches."

Zechs drew back a little from the screen. Then, he leaned forward, a smile on his face. "This is working in your favor, Arys. They can upgrade your Gundam for you, provided they agree to do so."

Arys pulled out her gun and ran a slender finger down the long barrel. Her smile was threatening. "They will, Zechs. A little persuasion goes a long way."

"I like the way you think, Arys."

"You've taught me well, Zechs. And now, it's time to put those lessons to good use."

"Indeed." Zechs reached off-screen. "Here are the coordinates for an abandoned OZ base on the shores of a neighboring kingdom. We'll meet there. I'll arrange for the sale of the ships and subs during your journey."

Arys had waved Quinze over to the console before Zechs' orders came through and the White Fang leader studied the coordinates carefully. 

"It will take a few days for us to reach these coordinates."

"Of course, it isn't easy to find a buyer who won't talk."

"Do what you have to, Zechs. We'll be at the base when you arrive."

Zechs gave Quinze a stern look. "Good." He looked at Arys. "Make sure they don't mess up things, Arys."

"Yes, sir."

_______________

Author's notes: Welcome back! For some of you, you've probably just finished Circle of the Earth and you were wondering whether or not Arys had died. Well, I decided not to let you all wait and tell you right away in the sequel to Circle of the Earth. Just what does this author have in store for our favorite Gundam characters? (author rubs hands together with glee) Well, you'll just have to wait and see! :-)


	2. Face of the Enemy: Chapter 2

Non-standard disclaimer: I own Arys Walker, her Gundam, and her Shiv rifle so please don't take them. All of the rest of the characters have been borrowed from whoever owns Gundam Wing (Which is probably a lot of people). 

Face of the Enemy

Chapter 2

By Ceressky

__

Five weeks after the collapse of the Cinq Kingdom...

Arys nonchalantly walked through the Romefeller Foundation headquarters. She had told Zechs that she needed to fulfill a personal mission, and he had given her permission to leave White Fang's newly-acquired lunar base without hearing any of the details. Arys was glad that he had not required her to explain herself. For some reason, Zechs trusted her completely. It was a nice feeling. 

She heard a commotion going on by the Great Hall and she quickly headed in that direction. 

"Queen Relena is going to make a speech." Arys heard people whispering as she joined the crowd milling around outside the Great Hall. 

Arys filtered in with the rest of the people and took up a standing position at the back of the chamber. As Relena began to speak, Arys surveyed the balconies located near the top of the chamber. Her sharp eyes caught a whisper of movement along one of the pillars closer to the platform. Then, she saw him. A boy. Holding a gun. Arys smiled to herself. 

"An assassin." 

Arys quickly left the room and made her way over to the stairs. As soon as she found the stairs, she sprinted up them. When she got to the top, she leaned over to catch her breath. She still had not fully recovered from her close brush with death a little more than a month ago. Her ankle had healed quickly, but she had had some other injuries that had left her weakened. She hated the feeling of being weak. Even exercising every day had not built up her strength again. 

__

No one who comes so close to death can escape unfazed. Arys sighed. 

As soon as she felt strong enough, she straightened up, pulled out her gun, and stealthily crept across the balcony, heading for the pillar where she had seen the movement.

She saw a hand raise a gun to point toward the platform and at Relena's head. Arys silently came up behind the pillar, peeked around it, and clapped a hand over the assassin's mouth before yanking him backwards toward the wall and away from the railing.

"Mph!"

"Shut your mouth and I won't kill you yet," Arys whispered in his ear.

The boy grabbed the arm she had around him, and Arys found herself on the floor, her midnight hair flung across her face. The boy straddled her, pinning her arms to the ground with one arm as she struggled to get away from him. He held a gun to her head.

"Talk, now." He said, shifting slightly and lifting his arm off her.

Arys felt a hand sweep across her face, removing the hair blocking her view of the boy and his view of her face. She glared up at a boy with tousled brown hair. When he saw her face, he gasped, and confusion filled his blue eyes. He looked like he had just seen a ghost. His face paled.

"Arys?" The confusion was replaced by remembered pain. "You're alive?" 

Then, relief spread across his face and he smiled. "Duo was right."

Arys stared at him impassively. "How do you know my name? I don't think we've met."

The boy rolled to his feet and helped her up, his hands capturing hers in their strong grip. He took the gun from her hand and dropped it on the ground. Arys blushed. That look in his eyes. No one had ever looked at her like that before. It unnerved her.

"We were...," The boy's deep blue eyes traveled over her face, and Arys felt a warmth rising in her cheeks, "friends before you self-destructed." He stepped closer. "You don't remember me, Arys?" His voice lowered to a husky whisper. 

His voice made her feel weak, and that countered one of the things Zechs had drilled into her over the past month - Never allow yourself to feel weak. Arys tried to slow her racing heart, to calm the quivering in her legs. She didn't understand her reaction to this boy. Who was he? 

Arys shook her head, her gray eyes still steely in spite of the disturbing emotions roiling within her. "How did you know that I self-destructed?"

"I was there, Arys." He kept coming, backing Arys against the wall. "I watched your Gundam explode and when it did, I felt as if I had lost everything."

There was a look of absolute fright on her face. He knew who she was, what she was! But she had no idea where she had met him before. Zechs would have told her to eliminate him right then and there, but something inside kept her from doing so. Was it her heart? She felt as if it had frozen solid over the past month and was just beginning to melt. Did she actually feel compassion for this boy? The feeling was so foreign to her that she had no idea how to handle it.

"Who are you?" Her eyes darted back and forth, trying to find a way to escape.

He drew closer to her, her hands still clasped in his, until his face was only inches from hers. "My name is Heero Yuy, Arys Walker."

"Heero Yuy?" A scowl appeared on Arys' face. She shook her head. That name. It did sound familiar, but she could not recall his face anywhere in her memory. "I'm sorry. I don't remember you."

Heero put his hands on her shoulders. "Arys..."

Arys trembled at his touch. The emotions racing through her were too much for her to handle at once. She had to leave, get away, find a way to control these feelings. Zechs would be disappointed. He had tried so hard to drill emotion from her.

"Let go of me!" She darted away, stopping in the middle of the hallway to turn around and shout at him angrily. "I'm sorry, okay? I don't know who you are or how you know me, so just leave me alone!"

Arys disappeared down the stairs. Heero looked down at his hands. He clenched them into fists. He had been so close. He had seen her reaction to him. Somewhere underneath, the Arys he had known still existed and still had the same feelings for him that he had for her. 

"She's alive. That's all that matters."

______________

Arys sat at a console in a remote room in the Romefeller Foundation building. Her meeting with the mysterious would-be assassin was still in the forefront of her mind as she searched classified files on the Romefeller network. How did he know her? There had been something in his eyes that made Arys' emotions go haywire. Only now was she beginning to calm down from the encounter. Arys clenched a fist to her forehead, willing the thoughts to leave her mind.

"Don't think about him right now, Arys. Concentrate." 

Arys tried to focus on the computer screen in front of her. She was searching for information about herself. Trying to regain her memory and in turn the life she had lost. Zechs had suggested she search the Romefeller computer system since she had once been under their organization. Apparently, he had known who she was long before he had met her on the beach. He had suggested using the Zero System as her search word. She typed it in.

An article on the Zero System came up on the screen. And her name was in the article. Arys slipped a disk into the drive and clicked SAVE. The drive whirred a bit, but Arys ignored it as she read the summary of the article at the top of the screen.

________

"Subject under experimental study: Arys Walker 

Age: 10 years old

Experiment: Use of the Zero System as a virtual reality simulator with real-world effects 

Goal: Reprogramming of the Zero System allows an outside source the ability to control what the subject experiences while under the control of the Zero System.

Experiment Results: Arys Walker has accepted the Zero System. She believes that she is fighting against Oz under the Zero System program. Total emotional detachment is possible. Due to the subject's complete immersion, she accomplished the mission of killing her own parents. 

Experiment Conclusion: Successful."

__________

Arys drew back in horror. She had killed her own parents! 

"Yes, Arys," A voice behind her said sympathetically.

Arys whirled in her chair and pulled out her gun in one smooth motion. She leveled the weapon at the speaker. She glared down the barrel of her gun and into eyes the color of a twilight sky. It was Heero. His gaze settled on her face, and Arys felt as if he were staring straight into her soul. 

_You don't want to see it, Heero Yuy. It's cold as death. I'm lost, and there's no way anyone can find me again._

"You caused the death of your own parents. You told me about it only a few months ago, the day I tried to kill you myself."

He had tried to kill her? But what about that look in his eyes? The caring, the... dare she think it?... love. How could he love her? She didn't even know him! Arys looked away from his eyes to stare out the door.

Arys' eyes narrowed. "Why are you following me?" She tightened her grip on the handle of the gun. 

"I'm not. I need access to this terminal, but when I came in, you were already here."

Arys lowered her gun, turned around, and tapped a few buttons. She logged off the computer and ejected her disk. Then, she jumped out of the chair and waved Heero toward it.

"Here."

"Thanks." Heero slid into it. His gaze was piercing. "Arys..."

Arys met his gaze. She shook her head and made her way to the door. Just as she reached the doorway, Arys reached out for the doorjamb, suddenly feeling light-headed. 

"Arys? What's wrong?" Heero asked, his eyes still on her.

She ignored his question. A jolt of pain struck her head that threatened to make her black out, but she fought it with gritted teeth. She lost. Spots danced in front of her eyes as she leaned heavily on the doorjamb.

__

Zechs will be so disappointed. 

With a groan, she collapsed to the floor. 

Heero leaped out of his chair to catch her in his arms. As he looked down at her pale face, he wondered how she had survived the destruction of her Gundam.

He sighed. "Arys, your strength is perhaps your greatest weakness."

_________________

Arys woke up to find herself lying on a couch. The pain in her head was gone, but the slight dizziness was still there. She should have known better than to push herself too hard. Another one of Zechs' lessons - Know your limitations. 

"Hello."

Arys turned her head to see Heero sitting in a chair across from the couch, watching her. She scowled at him.

"Where am I?"

"That depends on you." 

The cryptic answer caught Arys off-guard. She sat up easily. "How long was I out?"

"Two hours." Heero stood up and went off into the kitchen adjacent to the living room. He came back with a glass of water. "Here." He handed it to her.

Arys eyed it warily, then looked up at Heero. His eyes were unreadable, not cold, but she could tell he was trying to hide his emotions from her. She took the glass. "Thanks."

"Who are you working for?"

Arys downed the glass of water. "I can't tell you that."

"Who saved you?"

Arys deliberately placed the glass on the coffee table in front of her. She glared at him. "Take a wild guess."

"I need to know, Arys." Heero sat down across from her again.

"Why?" 

"I need to know whether or not I can let you go."

Arys pursed her lips. "You don't have the right..."

Heero jumped to his feet, his eyes flashing blue fire. His voice rose a little. "You may not remember me, Arys. But I remember you. I can't just let you go. Not like this. Not after I've just found you again." Heero took his chair again when he saw the slight fear creeping into Arys' wide gray eyes. He swept a hand across his forehead, tousling his dark hair even more. "I thought you were dead, Arys, that I had lost you." Heero looked up at her. There was no pleading in his eyes, only hope that she would understand. "I loved you, Arys. I still do."

Arys drew back, startled at this sudden admission. She had not expected it. She bowed her head. She hated to say it, but his sincerity touched her heart. When she raised her eyes to meet his, a cynical smile touched her lips. 

"All right, Heero Yuy. You want to know what happened to me? Fine, I'll tell you." 

____________

Heero walked down the hallway to his room. He and Arys had talked long into the night. It was almost three in the morning. Heero remember another early morning they had spent together. When she had first admitted that she was in love with him. Heero shook his head. It still hurt to think of that moment. She remembered nothing of it, and Heero had thought she was dead. To him, it almost seemed as if Arys was still dead, even though she was fast asleep in his living room. Arys told him how she had been saved from death and the organization she had joined. Of her training under Zechs' tutelage. The man had been nothing short of brutal in what he had drilled into her. But she had accepted his lessons willingly, like a child who had found a forbidden cookie jar. 

"She's so different from..." Heero began as he flopped onto his bed, too drained both emotionally and physically to bother with changing his clothes. 

_...the Arys I knew before._

"Zechs did this to her," Heero whispered. 

He looked out the open door of his bedroom. The apartment was small and run-down. He could hear Arys' light breathing as well as anything else that was happening in the building. Somewhere a door slammed loudly, but Arys slept on peacefully, curled up on the couch. He had stood beside the couch for a long time after she had fallen asleep, watching her, wondering what filled her dreams.

Heero slowly fell asleep, his thoughts dwelling on how he could convince Arys not to return to White Fang. 

He needn't have bothered. The next morning, Arys was gone.

____________________

Duo walked through the streets of the colony, keeping a lookout for any neo-Arabians with blond hair. He had already tried the other colonies, all with no luck at finding his fellow Gundam pilots. This colony was the last one on his list and the only one his friends could possibly be on. He'd been doing a lot of traveling around for one month. Hilde had lost track of the circus when he had left her to come back to the Cinq Kingdom.

"Only to find Heero half-mad with grief and Arys dead." Duo shook his head. The memory still stung.

"Duo!"

Duo sighed with relief as he turned around. 

"Looks like Quatre found me." 

He greeted Quatre with his trademark cocky grin. It didn't quite reach his eyes, but Quatre didn't even notice. "Hey, Quatre! Did you find Trowa?"

Quatre's smile faded a bit. "Yes, but he doesn't remember me."

"Aw, don't worry about it, Quatre. I'm sure it'll hit him sooner or later that you're his friend." Duo patted Quatre on the shoulder.

"And Catherine's being a regular prison guard! She won't let me talk to him!" 

Duo, with a burst of unusual insight, said, "Maybe she just doesn't want to lose him again."

"But we need him, Duo!" 

"We have to give him some time, Quatre. He's not going to remember everything in one day. Sometimes I even have trouble remembering what I ate for dinner yesterday." Duo tapped his chin thoughtfully. "You know, what did I have for dinner...?"

Quatre nudged Duo. "Come on, let's go see him. Maybe seeing two Gundam pilots at once will help jog his memory."

"I dunno, Quatre." Duo gave him a mischievous grin. "Many people probably want to forget us Gundam pilots."

Quatre rolled his eyes. "This is serious, Duo!" He almost looked irritated.

Duo shrugged. He supposed Quatre's worry was natural. After all, Quatre and Trowa were good friends. He would have felt the same way if something like that had happened to Heero. Thinking of Heero made Duo think of Arys, and he suddenly realized that he had forgotten to tell Quatre. He glanced at the blond-haired boy and knew that Quatre would want to know. He hated to ruin the guy's day even further. As they walked to the circus grounds, Duo tried to bring up the subject of Arys. Each time though, he choked on the words. Quatre finally brought up the subject of the sixth pilot himself. 

He turned to Duo as they came upon Trowa's tent. He looked worried. "Have you seen Arys? Do you know how she's doing?"

Duo bowed his head. It was hard for him to even think about Arys. He could still remember how they had run through the hallways of the Institution, yelling at each other at the top of their lungs just to see how the students would react. Finally, he looked back up at Quatre. Quatre's eyes were now fastened on his face, wide-eyed.

"Is she all right?" He asked.

Duo shook his head sadly. "Quatre, Arys is dead."

"What?!" Quatre stepped forward, grabbing Duo's shirt and pulling him forward. His light blue eyes took on a slightly crazed look. "This isn't one of your jokes to make me angry, is it, Duo?"

Duo waved his hands placatingly. "I'm not kidding, Quatre! She self-destructed and destroyed an entire sea assault force! She gave her life for the Cinq Kingdom."

Quatre let go of Duo's shirt. "Which no longer exists. Her sacrifice was wasted." His voice was flat, completely unlike the friendly tone Quatre usually used.

"Look, I'm sorry she's gone too, but there's nothing we can do to bring her back."

Quatre sighed. His voice returned to normal but still carried a hint of grief. "I can't believe it, but I guess you're right. How's Heero handling it?"

Duo shrugged. "At first, I thought he might lose control completely, but he's doing okay. He stayed back on Earth. Said something about having to conquer the Zero System."

"It must have hit him pretty hard though. Heero and Arys were really close."

Duo laughed softly. "And you and Arys weren't?"

Quatre flinched slightly. Duo's words hurt him. "Yes, we were close." Quatre raised his head to look at Duo. Duo drew back a bit when he saw the regret in the innocent sky-blue eyes. "I... I..." Quatre stopped, unable to continue. He forced a smile. "Let's go and see Trowa, Duo."

Duo eyed Quatre worriedly. "Sure."

____________

Catherine eyed Trowa as he washed off his clown makeup. Once again, Trowa had performed magnificently, and their acts had gone off without a hitch. She had to admit that she was proud of him. 

"Trowa, that was probably the best performance yet! You did a great job!"

Trowa wiped off his face with a towel and looked up at the mirror. Catherine could see his reflection studying her thoughtfully. 

"Catherine, that boy who came in earlier yesterday..." Trowa sat down on a nearby couch. "I remember him from somewhere."

Catherine frowned. "Just forget about him, Trowa. He won't be coming back."

"No, Catherine. I can't forget about him. He seemed... familiar. Like I knew him before... before this." Trowa waved a hand around to indicate the various props scattered around the tent. 

Catherine sighed and then sat next to Trowa. "You have to put the past behind you, Trowa. And leave it there."

"I can't do that." Trowa shook his head. "I know you don't want me to get my memory back, Catherine, but..." He looked into Catherine's blue eyes affectionately, "I need to find out who I am."

Duo and Quatre burst into the tent. Catherine jumped to her feet, her eyes blazing with fury.

"Haven't you ever heard of knocking?" She gritted her teeth together.

Duo made a face. "Kind of hard to knock on a tent flap, don't you think?"

"Ohhh!" Catherine threw up her hands in defeat and sat back down next to Trowa.

Trowa smiled at Catherine and stood up to greet Duo and Quatre. "Hi, I'm Trowa Barton."

"I'm Duo Maxwell. Don't ya remember me, Trowa?"

Trowa's smile was politely blank. "No, I'm sorry I don't."

Quatre's hopeful expression faded. "I should've known it wouldn't work."

"I wish you guys would just give it up. Trowa's happy here and trying to give him his memory back would only make him unhappy again," Catherine said from her position on the couch.

"We need your help, Trowa..." Duo was interrupted by ringing alarms outside. He put his hands over his ears. The sound was more annoying than loud.

"It's the raid siren. The colony's being attacked." Catherine's voice was flat. She glanced at Trowa.

"C'mon, Quatre." Duo motioned Quatre to the door. "We've gotta help."

"Right behind you, Duo."

Trowa trailed after them, a serious look on his face. "Let me come with you."

"Trowa!" Catherine's face gave away her distress.

Trowa put his hands on her shoulders. "Catherine, the colony is being attacked. I have to help protect it, and you."

Catherine's eyes filled with tears, but she nodded. "Okay, Trowa, but please come back to me in one piece."

Trowa nodded and then turned to Duo and Quatre. "Let's go."

Duo and Quatre both smiled at him. "Right."

______________________________

Author's notes: Okay, you can all probably tell what's coming up in the next chapter. Fight! Fight! Fight! Yup, you're right. A little skirmish between Romefeller and White Fang. Wonder who'll win? I vote for neither. Can anyone say "Trowa in a Taurus suit"? (wink)

Anyway, sorry about all the jumping around here but the characters are scattered all over the place so I have to go find them once in a while. Besides, you all don't want to stay with Arys and Zechs all the time, do you? :-) And yes, I claim poetic license once again. Hey, this is an alternate universe fic, I can make drastic changes if I want, right? Also, I finally reveal in this chapter how Oz was able to fool Arys into thinking she had been living in a virtual world. Now, after that little explanation, I hope you all are enjoying the story so far. 


	3. Face of the Enemy: Chapter 3

Standard Disclaimer: No disclaimer. Read and enjoy and please don't sue me. 

Face of the Enemy

Chapter 3

By Ceres_Sky

Noin met the three pilots at the colony's mobile suit hangar bay. She had come along with Quatre to find Trowa, hoping to find her own way of stopping the war. 

"Hi, you guys. Your Gundams are flight-ready, Quatre and Duo." Noin noticed the tall, slender boy who was tagging along behind Quatre and Duo. "Is this your long-lost pilot?"

Quatre stepped forward and smiled at Noin. "This is Trowa Barton. Yes, he's a Gundam pilot, but he's lost his memory."

"Really?" Noin studied the circus performer thoughtfully. He hardly wavered beneath her piercing gaze. "Think you can handle a Taurus suit, Trowa?"

Trowa nodded. 

"Okay, suit up."

While Quatre and Duo ran off to climb into their Gundams, Trowa followed Noin to the row of gleaming Taurus suits. Noin motioned to one of the suits. 

"You can take that one on the end, Trowa."

"All right." 

Trowa nimbly scrambled up the ladder to the Taurus suit's cockpit. With practiced ease, he swung into the pilot's seat, the cockpit hatch closing behind him. Noin's face appeared on the viewscreen in front of him. 

"Trowa, follow me out. We're sticking to Quatre and Duo."

"Understood."

Trowa fired up the Taurus suit's engines. His body seemed to know what to do, but his mind was completely lost. Trowa shook his head. Why couldn't he remember? He wished he could. Quatre and Duo apparently cared a lot for him, and he repaid them with only polite words and nods. They were his friends not strangers.

Noin's suit next to him came to life and hovered forward. With a blast from its engines, the suit flew toward the opening cargo bay doors. Trowa followed Noin, and soon, they were heading for the Gundams' coordinates.

"Trowa, will you be all right?" It was Quatre.

Trowa gazed out into the space battlefield. His mind was already coming up with a strategy. He scanned the radar screen in front of him, noting the position of each enemy in his vicinity. His fingers worked around the levers clenched in his hands. He nodded. "I think I remember how to do this."

Noin's whispered comment drifted into Trowa's ears. "Just don't get yourself killed."

Trowa gave her a half-smile. "Don't worry. I won't." He throttled forward, heading straight for his first target.

Quatre followed, wanting to make sure that his friend didn't do anything rash. He needn't have worried. As Trowa's mobile suit flew off, the third Gundam pilot was already having his suit pull out its beam rifle. With a graceful swing, the Taurus aimed the rifle straight at a mobile doll and fired. The doll disappeared in the wash of energy and exploded. But Trowa was already gone, targeting the next enemy. Quatre nodded. He would keep a close eye on his friend, but he knew Trowa was capable of taking care of himself.

Trowa skimmed the dots jerking about on his radar screen. Instinctively, he pulled up on his flightstick, rolling the suit upward to come face to face with another Virgo. He fired his rifle. One shot, one kill. Trowa turned the suit around to fire another killing shot at a Virgo approaching him from behind. The mobile doll crumpled into a piece of useless scrap metal then exploded into a brilliant ball of flame. 

One after another Trowa took out the mobile dolls. He did it almost automatically. And all with his one beam rifle. 

____________

"What are you doing to it?" Arys asked the five professors situated on various parts of her Gundam. There was a skeptical look on her face. To her, the Silverwind currently looked like a piece of junk. Wires hung from every hole that was possible on the Gundam's armor. Its hands hung loosely at the wrists and two metal boxes teetered on top of them. The Silverwind's 'wings' were completely gone, replaced by a frame that looked suspiciously similar to the form of feathered angel wings.

"What does it look like we're doing?" One of the professor's replied. Arys still hadn't figured out all their names. They all looked slightly crazy to her. But they were fixing her Gundam, so Arys tried to be semi-polite to them. Of course, she had had to convince them to repair her Gundam under the barrel of her gun. 

Arys looked up at the professor who had spoken to her. Doctor J, she thought. "Well, it looks like you're turning my Gundam into a candidate for the scrap yard." She tried to soften the words with what she hoped was a teasing smile. She didn't realize that her "teasing smile" came across to them as a threat to take their lives if they didn't give her a good reason for her Gundam's appearance.

"We're upgrading it." 

"Oh, really?" Arys' smile vanished. "And just how are you 'upgrading' it?"

Doctor J waved to the frames on the Gundam's back. "We're replacing the normal engines with 'wings', real wings. And then in the hands, we're installing a weapon we're calling the beam emitter. It's quite a handy weapon. You don't have to carry anything around. Just raise the hands and voila, instant close-range buster rifle."

Arys still looked dubious. "How long until you're finished?"

Doctor J flourished the portable welder in his 'claw'. "I'd say about a week more."

"That's the earliest?"

Doctor J looked slightly irritated. "Child, if you don't want this Gundam blowing up with you in it, I'd suggest you be patient."

Arys waved off the scolding. "One week. No more, no less." She walked away, tapping something behind her ear as she did so.

"It'll be done," Doctor J replied.

"It'd better be," Arys whispered under her breath.

_Silverwind, give me a daily status report on your rebuilding._

Understood.

_____________

Arys made her way to the Libra's control bridge. The space fortress was huge, but Arys felt right at home. She had memorized the fortress' blueprints as soon as she had arrived. The battle for Libra had been nothing short of spectacular. Arys was disappointed though that she'd had to pilot a Leo suit instead of her Gundam. 

"People of Earth and the colonies…"

Arys perked up when she heard Zechs' voice over the fortress intercom. He was finally making his announcement. Arys tapped her transmitter.

_Record this transmission, Silverwind_.

While the professors were away from her Gundam, Arys had climbed into the cockpit and programmed part of the mobile suit's computer to remain active at all times. This enabled her to communicate with Silverwind anytime, even when the professors were busy tearing it apart.

"I am Milliardo Peacecraft, leader of the White Fang. We are an organization that will fight for the total independence of the colonies. The Earth and the colonies cannot peacefully coexist. Therefore, Earth must be destroyed in order for the colonies to receive their full independence. All resistance will be annihilated."

Arys listened as Zechs spoke. He was not as eloquent as his sister, but he had gotten his point across. 

Arys smiled grimly. "The war has begun."

____________

__

One week later…

"Enemy threat approaching…" The warning repeated over and over as Arys burst into the room where her Gundam was stored.

The doctors had finished rebuilding the Silverwind only yesterday. They had insisted that she rename her Gundam, and when Arys had seen it completed, she agreed. As soon as she had seen it, a perfect name had popped into her head.

"Archangel..."

The Gundam's silvery eyes lit up when she spoke. 

_Hello, Arys._

Arys smiled and climbed up the ladder to her Gundam's cockpit.

_Time to take you out for your first battle, Archangel_.

_Understood._

Duke Dermail was approaching the Libra with a small assault force. Arys almost laughed at the sight of it as she left the cargo bay with a group of Taurus and Virgo suits. He thought he could defeat their army with that tiny assault force? No one could take the space fortress with so little power.

"Arys, go for the transport." Zechs' voice told her through her personal intercom.

Arys keyed the transport's position into her threat indicator. Her entire being focused on destroying that transport. 

"Understood." Arys pushed forward on her throttle.

_____________

Duke Dermail looked out the window of the transport. He had confidence in the assault force he had brought with him. Nonetheless, a premonition nagged at the back of his mind.

_Today you will die_.

The duke shook off the strange feeling and turned away from the window.

"What is the status of the battle?" He asked a passing Romefeller soldier.

The soldier looked a little worried. "Duke Dermail, their forces are very strong. We're having some problems."

"That's not possible!"

The soldier nodded firmly. "It might be best if we retreat, sir."

"Retreat? Never!"

The soldier's eyes suddenly focused on something beyond him. His eyes widened with horror. The duke realized that the soldier was staring out the window.

"What are you looking...?" Duke Dermail turned back to the window.

"A...a Gundam, sir. Like one I've never seen." The soldier's voice was quiet with dread. "It's heading straight for us." He straightened up and ran to the front of the transport, shouting as he did so, "Evasive maneuvers! Get this transport moving!"

The duke glared out the window at the approaching mobile suit. It was majestic-looking, but at the same time, carried a deadly air about it. The soldier was right; it was like no mobile suit he had ever seen. The silvery wings seemed to beat out the tune to his funeral dirge. He could almost hear the mournful sound. He watched in seeming slow motion as the Gundam hovered a few kilometers away, its eyes glowing silver. It followed their transport effortlessly as they tried to escape. A gun came up on its right shoulder, and Dermail found himself staring at the barrel of a Shiv rifle. 

_An avenging angel_. Dermail suddenly felt sorry for what he had done. All the people he had killed. The dirge in his head began to ring, and Dermail bowed his head, turning away from the window. The Gundam fired. And half-moon discs sped straight for the transport, slicing the shuttle in half.

The last thing Dermail felt was a searing heat that consumed everything in its path. And the transport disintegrated to pieces around him.

____________

Arys stared at the exploding transport, her eyes glowing yellow. She was fascinated by the boiling clouds of yellow and orange. In the midst of the explosion, she could see the form of the transport. The form quickly disappeared as the transport deteriorated to pieces of shrapnel. A memory leaped to her mind. Her parents. The day she had killed her parents.

"Mom? Dad?" Arys whispered as she pulled back on her flightstick. Their faces were superimposed over the billowing clouds. 

_They're dead, Arys._ A voice seemed to say in her head.

"No!" Arys leaned forward, holding her head in her hands as pain ripped through her.

And with that memory, flowed hundreds of others. And suddenly, Arys remembered. All that she had been while working for Oz. And she hated it. Hated herself. Hated her life. Arys pulled off her helmet and began to sob uncontrollably. She threw her helmet to the floor. Tears fell onto the computer console and rolled to the floor. 

"Arys!" Zechs' voice thundered into her cockpit. "What are you doing?"

Arys did not hear him. All she could see and hear were the faces and the voices of those she had murdered. Most had been innocent, but some, like Duke Dermail, had not. Still, she had taken human lives. 

"I'm a killer. I deserve to die."

She slammed her fist onto the console. The console lit up with red warning lights. "I even killed my own parents!"

_How could anyone do such a thing, Arys Walker? Only someone like you could._

"Stop, please stop," Arys begged.

_You have no right to be alive. You've just killed again. How many more innocent people will suffer because of you?_

The question brought the assassin's face to her mind. Now, she remembered him. Heero Yuy. The boy she had fallen in love with and then had almost died for off the shores of the Cinq Kingdom. He had told her that he still loved her. Arys looked up, her gaze scanning the glowing screens in front of her.

"I saved him."

_Don't be silly, Arys. You should be dead. You're still alive and now you will cause his death._

"I won't listen to you! Leave me alone!" Arys put her hands over her ears. Who owned this voice that kept mocking her? Telling her to die, that she was worthless.

_You must listen to me, Arys._

"No!" Arys sat up and placed her hands over the flightsticks. "I don't have to listen to you, whoever you are!" 

She pushed her flightsticks forward, determined to beat down every mobile doll until the voice ceased. 

_I am a shadow of yourself, Arys. I will never go away._

Arys slashed at two mobile dolls with her beam sabers. They fell backwards, each cleaved in half. They disappeared in a volatile wash of energy, but Arys could hardly see it through the blur in her eyes. She raced to the next target.

"Feel nothing during a battle, Arys. It is the only way you can survive." Zechs' voice echoed through her mind. She struggled to fight the emotions threatening to consume her.

Three mobile dolls came at her, their planetary defensors raised. Arys ignored the shield generators and activated her beam saber. She dove into the trio of enemies and methodically took out the shielding. With a final slice, she destroyed all three dolls in one arc. 

But the emotional whirlwind still beat at her, breaking down her defenses, and the tears continued to flow down her cheeks.

______________

Dorothy watched from the Romefeller Foundation headquarters as her grandfather's shuttle exploded. With a gasp, she put a hand to her mouth.

"Grandfather!" 

He had been the only relative she had left. Now, he was gone. Dorothy fought back sudden tears. No family. Dorothy was officially an orphan. 

The rest of the officers in the room were just as aghast as she was. With her grandfather's death, the leadership of the Romefeller Foundation would fall apart. Then, Dorothy suddenly remembered. She had told her grandfather to try to retake Libra, even though she had known it would be impossible with the amount of firepower White Fang harbored. 

"Hmm..." Already, Dorothy was thinking of a way to use this situation to her advantage. 

She quietly left the room as the officers argued amongst themselves.

_Stupid, incompetent fools. They have no idea what they're doing._

Dorothy decided to take a shuttle to Libra herself, but not to attack it. 

"I wonder if Zechs could use another White Fang member." Dorothy smirked as she headed down the hallway.

_____________

Relena Peacecraft stood at the window, staring at the flawless blue sky that hid a vicious space battle going on at one of the colonies.

"Heero..." She sighed his name. She often found herself doing that, whenever she wondered where he was. Relena shook her head. But she had seen the way Arys and Heero "clicked" back at the Cinq Kingdom Institution. She had to fight back the jealousy, wishing she had been in Arys' place. But in the back of her mind, Relena knew that it would never have worked out. Heero was too much of a wanderer, too used to having no ties to anybody. His only weakness had been finding himself in Arys. She had been just as lost as he was, just as confused, and just as distant. Relena was a politician. She had too many ties to people. Everyone knew who she was. And she knew exactly what she wanted. Peace without war. That goal was something Heero and Arys respected but had never understood. 

The door to the room slowly swung open, creaking a bit on old-fashioned hinges.

Relena turned around, coming face to face with Treize Kushrenada. He still looked the same, blue eyes, blonde hair, calculating expression on his face, and that annoying half-smile he always seemed to wear. 

"Miss Relena Peacecraft, have you heard?" Treize asked her, his face betraying nothing of what he was feeling.

"What are you talking about?"

Treize came forward, standing on the other side of the table separating them. He leaned on one of the chairs casually. "Duke Dermail was just killed by White Fang forces."

"Oh, Milliardo..." Relena whispered.

"A new Gundam sliced his transport to ribbons. We have no data on it anywhere."

"You didn't come here to tell me about Duke Dermail's death," Relena stated flatly.

"On the contrary, Miss Peacecraft." Treize fingered one of the silk flowers in the table centerpiece. "Duke Dermail's death has very much to do with what I've come to tell you."

Relena waited patiently for him to continue. Treize straightened to his full height and gave her a sympathetic look. "The duke's death has thrown the Romefeller Foundation leadership into a frenzy. They need someone to take Dermail's place. And, my dear, I'm afraid that won't be you."

"What are you telling me?"

Treize smiled. "I'm going to step back into my role as leader of the Romefeller Foundation and in turn the 'World Nation' Duke Dermail established. I'm going to have to depose you from your position as Queen, Miss Peacecraft. Your relationship to Milliardo would be detrimental to my leadership."

Relena nodded. "I understand." She reached up to the tiara on her head and carefully took it off. She came around the table and handed it to Treize. "Take it, Treize. I no longer have need of it." She left the room without a glance back.

Treize looked down at the tiara in his hand. He glanced at the open door. "Where will you go, Relena Peacecraft? To your brother?" Even though he knew Relena could no longer hear him, he continued, "Tell him that I understand why he must fight. I'm fighting for the same reason." 

Treize threw the tiara to the ground. It bounced once and lay still, the gems inlaid on the crown sparkled at him. Treize walked to the window and studied the blue sky intently. 

"May the best man win, my friend."

______________

Author's notes: Wow! Talk about an intense chapter! Well, maybe it wasn't too intense for you readers, but it sure was for this author. Hope you all like the story so far. I'm in the dark as much as you all are about what's going to happen. These characters have minds of their own!


	4. Face of the Enemy: Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. You know the rest.

Face of the Enemy

Chapter 4

By Ceres Sky

Heero stared into the flames of his campfire. They danced and sparked above the logs, hypnotizing him with their rhythmic motion. With effort, he pulled his gaze away from the fire to glance around, making sure that no one had discovered his hiding place. It was a habit he had developed long ago. He sighed. He could not understand what he was feeling right now. He felt... lonely. He actually missed the other Gundam pilots, especially Arys. His gaze settled back on the fire and he could see her face wavering behind the flames. He wondered what it was about her that had drawn him to her. Then, he remembered what Arys had said to him more than a month ago at the Cinq Kingdom's Institution.

"We're too much alike, Heero..." 

And she was right. They were too much alike. It was amazing they had fallen in love with each other. He supposed there were exceptions to the adage "Opposites attract." But in other ways, Arys reminded him very much of Duo. Her love for playing pranks. Her sarcasm. Whenever she was under the influence of the Zero System was the only time she was ever truly distant.

And then, there was Relena. He knew now what he had felt for her. His protectiveness of her stemmed from the fact that she was the Earth Sphere's hope for peace. Hadn't he said so many times? Even Arys had admitted that Relena was the only one who could accomplish the peace they all fought for. And Arys did not even agree with Relena's ideals. 

Heero leaned back to study the stars. Somewhere out in space the Libra space fortress drifted. Arys was on board that space fortress. He was going to have to find her, help her regain her memory somehow.

The sound of a low-flying plane interrupted his thoughts and Heero turned his head to see a carrier slowing to a landing position above his campsite. Heero immediately leaped to his feet and pulled out his gun. He faced the landing carrier fearlessly as it touched down to the ground. A slender figure jumped down from the passenger door and landed easily on its feet. Heero lowered his gun when he saw who it was.

"Sally Po."

Sally smiled at him. "Heero Yuy, I believe I have something you want."

Heero frowned slightly. "And what would that be?"

Sally waved him over to the back of the carrier and the cargo door slowly lowered to the ground. She scrambled up the ramp and directed Heero's attention to the tarpaulin-covered form sitting in the cargo area. Heero walked up to it and lifted the tarp to see underneath. Instantly, he knew what it was.

"The Heavyarms."

"Yes," Sally replied. "And I need some help getting it to Trowa. Will you help me?"

Heero nodded and walked back down the ramp. When he reached the ground, he turned back to Sally. "Is there room for the Zero?"

"Heero, we're taking the Zero whether or not there's room."

"Good." Heero disappeared around to the side of the plane.

________

"Wufei." The voice pierced through the silence of Wufei's cockpit. He turned his Gundam around to find a space mobile suit carrier blocking his view of the stars. 

"Heero?" Wufei snapped out of his temporary insanity when he realized that it was one of his fellow Gundam pilots who had called his name. "What are you doing here?" He had spent the past few days fighting anything and anyone with abandon, not caring who or what they fought for. The pain of watching his home colony self-destruct had driven him over the edge.

Heero's face appeared on Nataku/Altron's comm screen. Wufei looked down at the dark-haired pilot warily.

"Wufei, we need your help." Heero moved off-screen and waved someone else into the seat. It was Sally Po.

"The World Nation and White Fang have gone to war. We must stop them, and you Gundam pilots are our only hope." She smiled at him. "Yes, we are weak, Wufei, but if we fight together, we can be strong."

"You speak the truth." Wufei nodded. "I will help."

__________

"We're coming up on one of the World Nation's assault forces now." Sally's voice came over the intercom. 

Heero and Wufei were sitting in the bunk room, talking. When they heard Sally's announcement, they immediately stood and headed out of the room for the cockpit. Heero came up behind Sally's chair and put his hand on the back as he leaned down to see what was on the radar screen.

"Two mobile suit carriers. They're heading for one of the colonies. A colony in the L3 cluster, I think."

Heero straightened up. 

"Will you take care of them, Heero?"

"No."

Both Wufei and Sally looked at him in astonishment.

"No?" Sally asked, still shocked.

Heero backed away from the chair and glanced at Wufei, his face impassive. "I think you should go, Wufei. Take the Zero."

"Me? Why?" Wufei actually looked worried. 

"The Zero System can show you many things, Wufei. Including your mission." Heero's cryptic answer confused the other two soldiers. He did not bother to explain and left the cockpit. 

Wufei nodded. "All right, Heero Yuy."

Sally gave him a concerned look. "Be careful, Wufei. The Zero System is dangerous."

"I know."

______________

Duo, Quatre, and Trowa floated toward the two pilots who had just arrived at the Peacemillion with Sally Po. Wufei, who now knew his mission after using the Zero in a space battle, looked almost glad to see them. His mission was the same as that of the other four Gundam pilots with him. Destroy the World Nation and White Fang. Both were threats to the peace of the solar system.

"Took you guys long enough. Seems like we've been waiting forever for you guys to show up," Duo said with his characteristic lopsided smile.

Noin floated up behind them. She greeted Sally happily. "Sally Po. It's good to see you again." Noin shook Sally's hand heartily. "I think we're ready."

"We're missing one pilot." Heero spoke up in his usual monotone.

Everyone turned to look at him. 

"What are you talking about, Heero? Arys is..." Quatre couldn't bear to finish as tears threatened to fill his eyes. He choked them back.

Heero shook his head. A small smile lit his face. "She's alive. I saw her, talked to her, held her. She was not a ghost." Heero raised his head to gaze at the others. "We ran into each other at the Romefeller Foundation Headquarters on Earth."

"All right! I knew she was too good a pilot to die on us like that!" Duo slapped Quatre on the back. "You hear that, Quatre? She's alive!" 

Quatre smiled slightly and glanced at Heero. "Where is she, Heero? How is she?" He still looked worried.

The smile vanished. "She's working for White Fang and is currently stationed on the Space Fortress Libra. Zechs Marquise found her after she self-destructed and he became her teacher. She lost her memory so all she knows is what Zechs has taught her." Heero's blue eyes saddened. "She doesn't even remember me."

Wufei and Trowa looked confused. 

"I hate to interrupt, but Heero, who is Arys? You never told me about her." Wufei leaned against the railing behind him. 

Duo grinned widely. "I can't believe Heero didn't tell you! She's only the girl he's madly in love with!"

Heero glared at Duo. Duo just stuck his tongue out at him. Heero sighed at Duo's childishness. Apparently, the news that Arys was alive had caused Duo to revert back to his old ways. 

"It wasn't necessary for you to know about her," He said to Wufei. "But if you really want to know, she's also a Gundam pilot. She used to work for OZ, but when she found out how they were using her, she became their enemy."

Trowa finally spoke up. He still had not regained his memory, but he was quickly relearning everyone's names and how he knew them. "Is she a good pilot?"

"Better than good. She can use the Zero System without going insane. She's trained with the system for the past five years."

"Then, I think we need her to join us."

"Trowa's right," Noin agreed.

Sally nodded. "We can use all the help we can get. Is there any way you can convince her to come with you?"

"Yes."

______________

Arys stared at the console in front of her. Dare she do this? Zechs had saved her life, but somehow, she knew that what Zechs was doing was wrong. Yes, Romefeller Headquarters was located on the Earth, but that did not constitute enough of a reason to destroy the Earth itself. Arys raised her head, determination lighting her gray eyes. 

_Let's go.... Silverwind_

She had not been able to break herself of the habit of calling her Gundam Silverwind. So, when she spoke to it in her mind, that was what she called it. The name was currently her sole tie to her life before her memory loss. She hated to lose it completely.

Alarm klaxons began ringing as Arys throttled forward, heading for the closed cargo bay doors.

_Open the doors, Silverwind._

The bay doors slowly began to open, revealing the stars beyond.

Arys bowed her head as she waited for the doors to fully open. As soon as it was clear for her to leave, Arys raised the Silverwind's new "angel wings" and the Gundam shot forward.

"I'm sorry, Zechs," Arys whispered as she left the Libra behind without a backward glance.

____________

"Zechs! The Archangel is leaving the Libra without take-off clearance!" Quinze scanned the console in front of him. He had been monitoring the positions of the approaching World Nation assault forces when he had seen the radar blip indicating the Archangel shoot out of cargo bay fifteen.

Zechs sprinted over to Quinze's station and leaned down to look at the screen. He frowned and went to the comm system. He keyed in to the Archangel's comm frequency and spoke into the microphone.

"Arys, if you do not return to the Libra right now, I will be forced to send out the mobile dolls."

Arys' face replaced the perpetual view of the stars on the front viewscreen. She looked haggard. "I can't do that, Zechs. Send out the dolls if you must, but I refuse to return."

"Why, Arys?"

The haggard look disappeared, and a fierce determination filled her eyes. "What you're doing is wrong, Zechs Marquise. I don't want to be part of it."

"Where will you go? I taught you everything you know."

"I've regained my memory, and I'm going to find my friends. My real friends, Zechs." Arys bowed her head respectfully. "I thank you for saving my life, Zechs Marquise, but I cannot help you destroy the Earth. You must do that on your own." Her face flickered off the screen.

Zechs waved a hand at Quinze. "Send out one squad of mobile dolls. We can't let her escape."

"But, sir!" 

Zechs' ice-blue eyes flared with anger. "Just do as I say!"

"Sir." Quinze keyed a code into his console. Five green lights lit up across the top of his screen. "Virgos deployed."

"Goodbye, Arys." Zechs waited patiently for the Virgos to reach the Archangel. He would send out mobile dolls until the Gundam was destroyed.

______________

To be continued...


	5. Face of the Enemy: Chapter 5

Warning: This chapter contains some kissing, so if you don't like that kind of stuff, well, find it and delete it, unless, of course, you'd like to find out how Duo makes fun of Arys and Heero. :-)

Face of the Enemy

Chapter 5

By Ceres Sky

Arys jerked forward in her harness as the dolls following her fired their beam rifles at her. She did not want to fight back and was hoping that Zechs would order them to retreat. But they didn't. 

"He wants to kill me..." Arys reached for the Zero System activation button, but her hand trembled as she did so. She turned her head away from it, remembering that horrible voice. "I can't. I need to remain in control of my emotions."

_Looks like we're going to have to take out these guys without help, Silverwind._

Arys smiled as she twisted her hand, causing her Gundam to turn around. "That's just fine with me."

_Fire up the beam emitters._

Arys had her Gundam raise its hands and an eerie yellow light glowed from the open palms. A sphere of energy began to build up within the cup of the Gundam's hands. Arys scanned the radar blips on the screen in front of her, waiting for the right moment. She saw it, closed her eyes.

The Archangel released the building energy in a golden beam of destruction. It shot from the Gundam's hands in a devastating show of power that ripped through three of the mobile dolls. They disintegrated. The remaining two dolls hovered for a few moments, apparently trying to analyze this new weapon. Arys had to laugh. 

The Archangel whipped out one beam saber from a shoulder sheath and shot forward, straight for the two hapless mobile dolls. The saber put a precise slit down the middle in each of them. The Gundam blasted away. 

Arys' early warning system bleeped at her. She glanced down at the screen and saw that there were ten more Virgos heading straight for her. 

"Great. Just great." 

Arys toggled through the frequencies available on her comm system until she came to the one that identified the Peacemillion. She punched the transmit switch and then immediately put her hands to the flightsticks as the ten dolls converged on her all at once.

"Peacemillion, this is Arys Walker. I wish to defect. I am under attack. Request assistance. I repeat, Peacemillion, this is Arys Walker. I wish to defect. I am under attack. Request assistance."

____________

"Hey, Heero! It's Arys! She's coming in her Gundam!" Duo's voice echoed through the hallways of the Peacemillion.

Heero sighed as he sat up from his bunk in his quarters. That Duo. He had no sense of protocol. Heero sprinted up to the control bridge. Arys must have regained her memory somehow. Soon, he would see her again. He burst into the room to find all the other crew members gathered around the front viewscreen.

Noin looked up when Heero walked in. "She's under attack. And she's in a new Gundam."

Heero watched the viewscreen and saw the Gundam. It zipped in and out of the fray with the ease of a hawk, probably due to the wings on its back. It was a uniquely designed Gundam, and it barely had a scratch. But it would not be able to hold its own for long. It looked like Zechs was trying to overwhelm Arys with mobile dolls.

"She's got ten more mobile dolls heading for her position now. She's requesting assistance"

Over the din of the proximity alarms, Heero could hear Arys' voice coming in over the comm system. "Peace...., this is Arys Wal... ...wish to defect....."

"Whoa! What kind of weapon is that? It's like she's got a buster rifle built into the Gundam's hands!" Duo exclaimed excitedly.

Three of the dolls disappeared as they were struck by a deadly beam of energy. Heero glanced at Trowa. The tall pilot looked impressed.

"Trowa, go help her. Use the Zero."

"What?" Duo asked, a surprised expression on his face. "I thought you would..."

"Shut up, Duo." Heero cut him off. His gaze settled back on Trowa. "Will you help her, Trowa?"

Trowa nodded. "I'll go." He left the bridge, his stride quickening as soon as he reached the door.

Duo looked slightly miffed at Heero, so Quatre asked the question instead. "Why, Heero?"

Heero watched Arys' Gundam swoop about the screen above him. "Both Trowa and Arys have lost their memories. Arys has regained hers. She might be able to help him."

_____________

Arys was relieved when the Zero showed up to help her out. But she was surprised when an unfamiliar face showed up on her comm screen instead of Heero's.

"Arys Walker, I'm here to help you."

Arys was getting tired of using her saber and her beam emitters so she resorted to using her Shiv rifle. As she fired the half-discs at the enemy, Arys spoke, "Heero sent you?"

"Yes. My name is Trowa Barton. I... I've lost my memory, but I still know how to pilot a Gundam."

Arys suddenly realized why Heero had sent Trowa to help her. As a mobile doll in front of her exploded into shards of metal, her Gundam leaped backward, reorienting so that she was looking at the Zero.

"Use the Zero System, Trowa. It will give you your memory back. I must warn you though. It might not be pleasant."

"Understood." The Zero's eyes flashed green, and Arys backed away. She did not want to become a target for the Zero. She knew that inexperienced Zero System pilots were not always able to handle the system as well as she did. 

As the Zero took her place in the battle, Arys continued heading for the Peacemillion,... and Heero.

"Arys, are you okay?" It was Heero's voice.

Arys smiled as she thumbed on her comm system. His face appeared on the viewscreen. "I'm fine, Heero. And I believe that when Trowa returns, he'll be the Trowa you once knew." Her eyes softened as she studied his face. "I remember you now," She whispered, her voice husky with emotion.

Heero did not smile, but she could see the light in his eyes. "You're set to land in cargo bay one." Then, he gave her a gentle smile. "I'll meet you there." 

Arys monitored the battle going on behind her and realized that the mobile dolls were retreating. The Zero hovered where it was and watched them leave. Soon, Arys found herself almost right on top of the Peacemillion. A track of lights shot from one of the cargo bays and Arys followed them in smoothly. The bright white of the cargo bay was a welcome change from the subdued darkness of outer space. She drifted forward until she saw a dark-haired woman waving two tracking lights at her. Arys followed the lights into a holding unit and set the Archangel down on its feet. It landed with a thunk. 

_Thank you, Silverwind._

Arys popped open the cockpit hatch and walked out onto the platform. She grabbed the haul line and lowered herself to the floor, landing solidly on her feet. Heero stepped forward from where he had been waiting. Arys gazed at him for a moment, taking in the expression in his eyes. She did not even notice the other pilots watching the couple curiously. 

"Hey," Heero said softly.

Arys smiled as she met him. He took her hands in his. 

"Hey, yourself," She replied, squeezing his hands tightly.

He released her hands and placed his hands on her shoulders. "I missed you."

"I know. I'm sorry," Arys whispered as he gently kissed her.

The kiss gradually deepened as Heero poured out all the grief he had been harboring over the past month and a half. His arms went around her in a tight embrace that Arys was helpless to escape. The emotions whirling through her were almost overwhelming as she pulled him closer, wrapping her arms around his neck, desperately trying to stay on her feet. 

"Aww... how sweet..." Duo said in a high sugary voice. He turned to the others watching. "Don't you all just think this is so sweet?"

Arys broke off the kiss, and Heero gave her a disappointed look. He looked so much like a lost puppy that Arys had to smother a laugh. 

"I wasn't finished..." He began. 

Arys put a finger to his lips. "Shh... Hold on a sec."

Turning in Heero's arms, she glared at Duo. "Shut up, Duo."

Duo's mouth pulled into a pout. "It's times like this I wish Hilde was around." 

Arys ignored Duo and turning Heero's face toward hers with a slender hand, she kissed him again. Heero closed his eyes and sighed contentedly.

Duo threw up his hands, exasperated. "That's the second time someone's told me to shut up today. Let's go, you guys." He had to smile as he motioned to where Arys and Heero still stood locked in each other's arms. "These two lovebirds need some time alone."

Quatre, Wufei, Sally, and Noin followed Duo toward the door. Sally and Noin stopped in the doorway to glance back at the couple.

"Who is she, Noin?"

"Arys Walker. She's been through as much as Heero has." Noin smiled. "They're perfect for each other."

"Do you think we'll ever find someone, Noin?"

Noin chuckled. "I've already found mine, Sally. But I'm afraid I don't know about you."

Sally's gaze followed the three retreating Gundam pilots. Her gaze settled on one particular Chinese pilot. "Hmm... Maybe I have found mine. We'll see."

__________

Arys and Heero were still standing in front of her Gundam when Trowa finally came back with the Zero. He hopped down to the ground and walked over to them. He tapped Heero on the shoulder.

"Heero?"

Heero raised his head to look at Trowa. Arys gave Trowa a mishievous look and ran her fingers through Heero's dark hair. It flopped over his eyes, making him look like he had just woken up.

"Uh, hi, Trowa." Heero blinked at him, like a man who had just come out into the sunlight after spending too long in a dark prison. He looked nothing like a prisoner though. In fact, there was a dreamy look on his face. "Is your memory back?"

"Yeah." Trowa smiled wearily. The Zero System had taken a lot out of him. He had seen many things that he never wanted to see again. He grinned for real when he saw an irritated look appear on Heero's face. Obviously, Heero didn't welcome the interruption. He had never seen Heero like this. It was very amusing. "Thanks to you and this young lady here." 

Arys tapped Heero on the nose. "Aren't you going to introduce me, Yuy?"

Heero glanced at her, slightly confused. "Huh? Oh yeah. Trowa, this is Arys Walker. She's my... my..." Heero couldn't seem to get the word out. His concentration had been broken when Arys laid her head on his shoulder. 

"Girlfriend?" Trowa finished for him.

Heero nodded. "Yeah, that's the word." He gave Arys a mock-glare as she lifted her head from his shoulder, laughter filling her gray eyes. "Arys, that's so distracting when I'm trying to talk sensibly to someone else."

"Why do you think I'm doing it?" Arys grinned at him saucily. "Not many people get to hear you talk nonsense, you know."

A semi-serious look swept over Heero's face when he glanced at Trowa. "Excuse me, while I teach her a lesson." He sounded angry, but Trowa could see the teasing glint in his eyes.

"Sure." Trowa walked away, hearing Heero and Arys laughing behind him.

__________

Trowa made his way to the Peacemillion's command center. He finally remembered all those who were gathered around the radar screen. It was a wonderful feeling. He had been feeling a little left out lately as the other pilots reminisced about different events that he could not remember.

"Hey, Trowa!" Duo noticed his arrival first. "You sure cleared out those dolls!"

"Are Heero and Arys still down there?" Noin asked. 

"Yeah." Trowa rolled his eyes. "They're still down there."

Noin sighed. "I think we're going to have a problem with those two."

Duo grinned. "As long as you stick them both in suits equipped with a Zero System, there shouldn't be any problems."

Quatre noticed something different about Trowa right away. "You've... you've got your memory back!"

"How'd you guess?" Trowa allowed a hint of a smile to touch his lips. 

Quatre shrugged, giving Trowa one of his friendly grins. "I can just tell."

"Quatre, do you think you can go down to cargo bay one and drag Arys and Heero up here?"

Quatre hesitated, and Duo jumped in for him. 

"I'll go!" Duo ran out the door.

Five minutes later, Duo showed up on the bridge again with Arys and Heero in tow. 

"Good of you two to join us," Noin said sternly. "I know that you're both very happy to see each other again, but we've got a war to fight here."

Both Arys and Heero looked sheepish. They nodded in agreement, and both attempted to put serious looks on their faces. But every time they looked at each other, they had to stifle a laugh. They resorted to looking away from each other. Noin sighed, slightly annoyed with them. She turned to the viewscreen.

"All right, now that we've got that settled. Let's get down to business." Noin pointed to the radar grid projected on the viewscreen.

____________

To be continued...


	6. Face of the Enemy: Chapter 6

Face of the Enemy

Chapter 6

By Ceres Sky

__

Peacemillion

"How long until we reach comm range of the Libra?" Heero asked, all business once again. 

"About ten minutes..." Noin said, tapping the console quickly. "The Peacemillion won't have a chance against that thing if it decides to fire at us."

"Noin's right. This ship moves slower than a Leo under water," Sally replied.

Noin glanced at Arys. The raven-haired pilot stood by another console, her gaze on the image of Libra on the viewscreen. 

"Arys?" Noin asked, wondering what the distant look in her eyes meant.

Arys tore her eyes away from the viewscreen to look at Noin. "Someone will have to die for this war to end, Noin."

Noin nodded. "The casualties could be many more, but both sides are using mobile dolls..."

Arys shook her head. "No, you don't understand. Treize and Zechs are the leaders of the World Nation and White Fang. For the war to end, one of them must die."

Noin paled when she realized the significance of Arys' statement. Zechs might die? She could not bear the thought of it.

Arys turned back to look at the viewscreen. "But it won't be Zechs."

The blood came back to Noin's face and she touched Arys' shoulder genty. "How do you know this, Arys?"

Arys glanced at Noin again, her gray eyes faraway. "I just do, Noin. I always do."

"Noin," Sally called the former OZ soldier back to the radar screen, "I've got a hostile presence at Colony C-421 in the L3 cluster."

"Identification?"

"It was just captured by an OZ assault force."

Trowa had lifted his head when he heard the name of the colony. He went to a console and tapped a button. He saw the mobile dolls guarding the colony. The view of the Libra on the front screen was suddenly replaced by a news broadcast of the colony's capture. Hundreds of colonists were gathered in a circle between three Taurus suits. Trowa recognized one of the colonists. A girl with curly brown hair. She seemed to be shouting something at one of the OZ officers.

"Catherine," He whispered softly. 

Trowa silently left the bridge. His Heavyarms was still being upgraded as were the other Gundams, so that left only the Wing Zero for him to pilot. Determination filled his eyes as he strode down to the mobile suit storage bay in cargo bay one. 

"I'm coming, Catherine."

_____________

Heero watched his friend leave the bridge. Heero stood against the back wall, observing everything quietly. Arys looked back at him once curiously, a question in her eyes. She had noticed Trowa's disappearance. Heero smiled inwardly. The girl didn't miss a thing, did she? Arys walked over to Heero, her face serious.

"Do you want to go help him, Heero?" Apparently, she didn't think Trowa could take on so many of Oz's mobile dolls at once. "You can take the Archangel."

Heero looked up at her, his eyes calm. "Don't worry, Arys. Trowa can handle it."

Arys leaned against the wall next to him. Her eyes settled on the viewscreen. Instead of the Libra, it now showed the Wing Zero, heading toward Colony C-421. Soon, all they could see were flashes of light. Arys closed her eyes and reached up for her transmitter. Heero noticed the movement and grabbed her hand. Arys opened her eyes in surprise. 

"Heero?"

Heero released her hand. "Don't, Arys. He has to do this on his own. You can't help him."

Arys let out a sigh of frustration. "If I have the ability to help, I can't just let him..."

Heero put an arm around her shoulders and leaned back against the wall. Arys laid her head on his shoulder. He watched the viewscreen impassively. "He'll be fine. Trust me."

___________

Trowa fired off the Zero's buster rifle into the peripheral mobile dolls. Of course, they disappeared. He blasted his way into the middle section of the guarding mobile suits. It took him five minutes to clear them out. All the dolls left were guarding close to the colony.

"Catherine..." Trowa kept murmuring under his breath as he blew away dozens of mobile dolls. 

The Zero System began to take over his mind, amplifying his emotions. Showing him things that he didn't want to see. One mobile doll took the form of Catherine herself. He shot her and watched her form vanish in a wash of crimson. Grief filled his soul when he realized that he had just killed her. But no, he hadn't killed her. The Zero System was just playing with... his... mind.

Trowa shook his head violently, trying to regain control, but it was no use. He had already lost control.

Trowa's eyes glowed yellow as the Zero raised its buster rifle again. The crosshairs on his radar screen locked on a single mobile doll. Directly behind the doll was the colony.

__________

"Trowa! No!" Quatre was watching a close-up of the battle on one of the console screens. "He's going to shoot the colony!"

Arys leaped away from the wall, about to go down to the mobile suit bay, but Heero restrained her with a strong grip on her shoulder. Arys glared at him.

"Let me go..." Arys whispered fiercely.

Heero shook his head and let go of her shoulder.

Arys growled something under her breath and turned around to bang her fist against the wall. When she whirled back around to yell at Heero, he was gone.

___________

A mobile doll struck the Zero from behind. Enraged, Trowa clamped his hand down on the control levers and turned the Gundam around to take on the threat. The Zero flew backwards and fired the buster rifle again. The doll fell back as the beam of energy slammed into it full force. It floated aimlessly for a few seconds before exploding. The remains of the doll drifted into place with the other pieces of scrap metal occupying the debris field Trowa had created.

The Zero turned back around to find that the other doll was still there. It seemed to be waiting for Trowa to destroy it. Trowa was glad to oblige. He raised the buster rifle, waited for the crosshairs to lock, and...

BANG! The mobile doll disappeared off his sensors, and the Archangel swooped in to take its place. Its hands were still raised in beam emitter position.

"Trowa. Don't let it control you." It was Heero. "You were going to shoot the colony, Trowa. Catherine is there, on the colony."

Trowa looked at his friend blankly for a few moments and then back at the colony that drifted right in front of him. "I... I was going to shoot the colony?"

Heero nodded.

"Catherine..." Trowa bowed his head. "Are you all right?"

"The OZ forces are leaving the colony, Trowa. You saved Catherine."

"Did I, Heero? I almost destroyed the colony." Trowa looked up and scanned his viewscreen to see several Taurus suits leaving the colony and heading back toward Earth.

"Don't blame yourself, Trowa. The Zero System is unpredictable. It can make you see things that aren't really there, make you do things you would never do."

"It steals your soul, Heero." Trowa said as he fired up the Zero's engines. "How do you deal with it?"

"I fight it, Trowa. Fight it with all that's in me. Only then will the Zero System submit to me rather than the other way around."

"It's a dangerous system, Heero. We have no business playing around with it." On his wraparound screens, Trowa could see the Archangel's wings flapping gently as the Gundam hovered in place . 

Heero almost smiled,... almost. One corner of his mouth lifted in a cynical quirk. "Who said I was playing?" The smile vanished. "Go look after Catherine, Trowa. I'm heading back to the Peacemillion."

Trowa watched as the Archangel gracefully flew off. He sighed. Catherine hated it when he fought in his Gundam. And now, he had almost killed her. He wondered what Catherine must have thought when she saw the Zero aiming its buster rifle at the colony and knew that Trowa was piloting it. Trowa bowed his head, his hands clenching around the levers on either side of the pilot's seat. 

"I'm sorry, Catherine."

____________

__

Space Fortress Libra

Zechs Marquise watched as the Wing Zero defeated all, ALL, of OZ's mobile dolls that were guarding Colony C-421. Treize had his work cut out for him if he kept sending out forces that could be destroyed by one Gundam. An outsider would have said that Treize and Zechs would end up at a stalemate due to the equality of their forces. However, Zechs had yet to play his wildcard. He smiled. And what a wildcard it was.

"Impressive." Zechs crooked a finger under his chin. "Fire the cannon."

"Sir? The colony's been liberated..."

Zechs stood up and waved the crewman off. "Not at the colony, idiot. Fire it at Earth."

"But..."

Zechs glared at the weapons officer. "Leave, now. You dare question me?"

The crewman scrambled out of his seat as Zechs stalked toward his station. He ran for the door. 

Dorothy Catalonia watched all this curiously. 

_He's going to fire the cannon at Earth? Why?_

Dorothy had arrived on the Libra as soon as Arys had left. She was not sorry she had missed her former classmate. She was sorry she had found the wrong time to come aboard. Zechs was in a rage because of Arys' defection and seeing Dorothy had only made him angrier. She had managed to convince Zechs to let her stay on the Libra, saying that she could be of help in some way.

"Help?" Zechs had snorted in disgust. "You?" He had looked at her disdainfully and then turned away.

However, Dorothy was used to such looks. She had gotten them often at the Cinq Kingdom. So Dorothy had shrugged off Zechs' disgust with her like water off a duck's back. 

Dorothy glanced at Zechs. He stood by the weapons console, waiting for Earth to show up on the radar screen. 

"Sir, we've got a civilian shuttle at one o' clock!" A crewmember spoke up.

"Zechs, don't do this!" Relena's face appeared on the main viewscreen. 

Zechs looked up from his console. "Relena..." He whispered.

"This is wrong, Zechs! The Earth's done nothing to you! God will never forgive you for this act!"

Zechs bowed his head again, his eyes closed. "Pull back, Relena."

Relena glared at him angrily. "No, I won't, Zechs."

"Your shuttle is no obstacle for the main array. You'll die for naught."

"I don't care. But let me say this. Using all this force to conquer people... Aren't you ashamed to use the Peacecraft name?" Relena leaned forward, her blue eyes flashing.

"Is there anything else you want to tell me?"

"Brother! Listen to me...!"

He punched the comm button and Relena disappeared off the main viewscreen.

Zechs poised his hand over the button that would fire the Libra's main cannon.

_He wouldn't._ But Dorothy knew he would. A grim smile twisted her lips. _Now, the whole world will see the power we possess._

The Libra trembled like a building caught in an earthquake and a beam of fantastic proportion shot from the main cannon. Dorothy watched, a smug look on her face, as the beam ripped into two of the World Nation's mobile suit carriers as if they were made of nothing more than sheet metal. And she watched as the beam slammed straight into Earth, causing a blast that could be seen even from their position near one of the Lagrange points. A pillar of white fire shot high into the atmosphere only to fade to nothingness in the oxygen-less exosphere. And an ominous cloud began to spread across the section of the Earth that had been bombarded. The earth's weather patterns would change for decades. 

Zechs' gaze was on the viewscreen. His ice-blue eyes were stoic, empty.

"Your move, Treize."

______________

__

Peacemillion

Arys slowly walked forward, an unbelieving look on her face. Zechs had just fired on Earth! She had known he eventually would, but not so soon. She stopped in front of the viewscreen, watching as that deadly black cloud crept across part of the earth. The blue oceans disappeared beneath it. 

"Zechs, how could you?" She whispered under her breath.

"Arys, are you all right?" Quatre put a hand on her shoulder. His eyes were filled with pain.

Even Duo had a serious look on his face. "All those people... gone, just like that." He snapped his fingers.

Wufie stared at the viewscreen with emotionless eyes. He had seen so much destruction lately that even this attack on Earth hardly fazed him. He turned away from the screen, struggling not to remember what had happened to his home colony. He was afraid he would lose control again if he allowed the memory to surface.

Sally and Noin both had angered looks on their faces. Sally's held pure anger, while Noin's held a mixture of anger and disbelief. 

"The butcher..." Sally muttered under her breath. 

"Oh, Zechs..." Noin leaned against a computer console, her shoulders hunched in sorrow. "I never thought..."

Heero walked onto the bridge. "Zechs never targeted the colony."

"You mean, Earth was his target the whole time?" Sally asked.

Heero nodded.

"Why didn't you say anything, Heero?" Arys said softly, not understanding Heero's silence on the situation.

Heero gazed at her silently for a few moments. Then, he replied, "There was nothing we could have done to stop the Libra from firing at Earth."

Duo raised a clenched fist. "But this attack leaves us free to fight back."

Heero nodded again. "Exactly."

___________

__

Aboard a civilian shuttle heading for the Libra

Relena vainly tried to raise her brother on the comm again, but apparently he was ignoring her transmissions. She banged the console disgustedly with a clenched fist.

"Milliardo, I can't believe you! Where did you learn to be so cold?"

"Relena, I thought I told you to pull back!" Zechs' enraged face appeared on her comm screen.

Relena glowered darkly at him. "Milliardo, I'm getting aboard the Libra whether you like it or not!"

Zechs nodded. "Fine. You can dock in shuttle bay four." The comm clicked off and his face vanished off the screen.

"And then, Milliardo Peacecraft, we'll talk,... about a great many things."

Author's notes: This is the last time you'll hear from this overly obsessed fanfic author until the end of the story. :-) I managed to get a hold of a few of episode scripts, so if you recognize some of the quotes I use, that's where they came from. Also, I've got a pic of Arys if any of you faithful readers would like to see what I think she looks like. Check out my site Zero Tolerance for fanart pics. Oh, and I've found that listening to the song "Last Impression," from some version of Endless Waltz, while reading this story fits really well. I think that's my favorite GW song so far :-) I'd like to say a huge thanks to all you readers out there. You're the ones who keep me writing this story! And the website owners deserve a huge round of applause for putting up with my flooding their inboxes with submissions. I'll stop blabbing now, so without further ado and no commercial breaks, I give you... the concluding chapters of FACE OF THE ENEMY. Coming soon to a website near you!


	7. Chapter 7

**Face of the Enemy**

**Chapter 7**

Arys eyed the brown-haired pilot kneeling on the catwalk in front of the Sandrock. She was watching him install the Zero System into the mobile suit from her leaning position against the railing of the catwalk.

"Heero, are you sure this is a good idea? You know how much Quatre hates using the Zero System." Arys walked forward and knelt down beside him.

Heero stopped his work for a few moments to glance at her. "You can help him, Arys."

Arys stood up, sat down on the open cockpit hatch, and studied him curiously. She propped her chin in her hands and smiled at him. "Are you giving me permission to enter the Sandrock's Zero System, Heero Yuy?"

Heero slid a disc into the Sandrock's new Zero System. "If you're needed, Arys, and only if you're needed." He looked up at her. "You remember what happened when you entered the Zero System in the Epyon?"

Arys nodded, a frown touching her delicate features. "How could I forget?"

"Don't use your ability unless it's necessary, Arys."

"I understand."

"Heero, what are you doing?" Quatre came up behind Heero and frowned slightly.

Arys took that as her cue to leave and stood to her feet. She bent down and put a hand on Heero's shoulder. He looked up at her, the distant look on his face vanishing when he saw the teasing in her eyes. She winked at him.

"Good luck," She whispered. She turned to Quatre with a bright smile. "Hi, Quatre."

"Hello, Arys." Quatre returned her smile but it was only half-hearted.

Arys walked away, heading toward the Archangel.

"What were you and Arys talking about?" Quatre watched her leave, many thoughts running through his mind.

Heero finished his work quickly and stood to his feet. "I just installed the Zero System into the Sandrock, Quatre."

"What?"

"I won't be able to join you in the battle, Quatre. I have another battle to fight."

"But.."

Heero took Quatre's shoulders and looked into his gentle blue eyes. "Quatre, I'm leaving you in charge. The Zero System can help you fight if you let it." Heero glanced in the direction Arys had left, seeing her standing on her open cockpit hatch, her gaze on him and Quatre. "And Arys can help you when you need it. She's helped me before."

Quatre shook his head. "I can't do it, Heero. I'm too weak."

Heero's eyes softened and he smiled slightly. Quatre's face filled with surprise. Heero had never smiled at him before.

"Quatre, you're stronger than you think, and I trust you." Heero let go of Quatre's shoulders.

Quatre walked into his cockpit and Heero followed him, leaning on the edge of the door.

"All right, Heero. I'll do it."

Heero pushed off and drifted backwards. "To activate the system, type in Z-E-R-O." There was confidence in Heero's eyes, confidence in Quatre and no one else.

Quatre closed the cockpit hatch and sighed. Even though the thought of using the Zero System scared him, Quatre took a deep breath and steeled himself for the impending battle. "Sandrock, let's do it."

Arys performed some quick system checks as the six Gundams put in a course heading straight for the Libra.

"This is it..." Arys whispered to herself.

Mobile dolls began pouring out of the Libra in precise formations. Arys swallowed, hard. Following behind the mass-produced dolls, Arys could see the Epyon hovering, waiting. She knew who he was waiting for.

"Heero..."

Almost as if he had heard her, Heero's face appeared on the comm screen. Arys thumbed her comm on so that she could respond.

"Zechs is waiting for me. You all know what to do." Heero's eyes settled on Arys' face. Apparently, he was looking at her image on his viewscreen. "Arys, remember what I told you. The battle is given to those who are ready."

Arys nodded.

Without another word, the Zero drifted out of formation with the other Gundams and blasted away, straight toward the Epyon. As soon as he left, the mobile dolls seemed to surround them on every side. "What are you waiting for?" Duo dove into the fray with reckless abandon, swinging his scythe around like a baseball bat. Everywhere he swung, there seemed to be a mobile doll. Wufei followed him.

"Wait, Duo, Wufei! We should fall back, give them room!" Quatre tried to call his fellow pilots back, but Duo and Wufei were already too far gone. Explosions blossomed in the general direction of the two. "Why won't they listen to me?"

Duo and Wufei were instantly converged on by literally dozens of mobile dolls. There were so many dolls, Quatre couldn't see his friends' Gundams anymore.

"Quatre, use the Zero System." Arys' quiet voice pierced the cockpit and her face appeared on the viewscreen.

"We need to fight together, Arys! Without my having to use the Zero System!"

"They won't listen unless they know that you know what you're talking about."

Quatre shook his head. "I... I can't use it, Arys."

"All right, Quatre. I can't make you do what you don't want to do." Arys' face flickered off the viewscreen and her Gundam moved off to take on seven dolls in a nearby sector. She raised the Archangel's hands and began firing her beam emitters in sporadic bursts that took out one doll with each shot.

"Arys, where are you going?"

"Leave her be, Quatre. She has her own way of fighting," Trowa said as he fired off his twin gatling gun at three mobile dolls. They exploded beneath the hail of armor-piercing bullets.

Quatre pulled out his sickles and savagely sliced them through a mobile doll. It fell backwards, cleaved into four pieces. "There's too many of them, Trowa! There are hundreds of them, and only six of us!"

"These dolls move too quickly. They don't move like dolls. They move like they're being piloted by humans!" Duo's excited voice came over the comm.

"Duo's right! I'm having trouble over here!" Wufei had gotten separated from Duo and was now handling at least ten mobile dolls on his own.

Quatre took a final stab at uniting the pilots on his own. "Everyone listen to me! They're trying to cut us off from each other. It's a divide and... An alarm interrupted Quatre's speech. Several beams of deadly lasers flew by Sandrock. One beam nicked Sandrock's arm as he whirled his Gundam about to see five dolls coming down on him at once.

Quatre whipped out his sickles and braced himself. Anger welled up in him. With a cry of rage, Quatre rocketed toward them. As he did, he pointed his weapons at the nearest mobile doll. Quatre swung as hard as he could at it and missed completely. As the mobile doll flew past him, Quatre spun with his sickle pointed behind him. Quatre felt the satisfying thud as the mobile doll lost its head. Quatre's small victory was put to an end as lasers slammed into Sandrock's back. Quatre grunted as he flew forward.

Quatre spun around and unleashed a volley of vulcan rounds more out of anger than anything else. Suprisingly, he disabled two of them in the process. Quatre reared back his arms and launched his two sickles at the remaining mobile dolls. They flew straight and true and punctured the dolls where the pilots would have been sitting. The mobile suits exploded taking the disabled dolls with them. Quatre took a deep breath and realized he was sweating.

Quatre suddenly knew that no matter how hard they fought they were losing, badly. But he didn't have the courage to use the Zero System. The memories from using it before were still too painful and he didn't want to risk his sanity again.

Arys showed up again beside him. "Quatre, if you don't use the Zero System, I will."

"Then, why don't you..?"

"Because Heero told you to, Quatre. He trusted you enough to leave you in charge. You have to learn to trust yourself. If you can't learn that trust, then I will use my system, but until you tell me so, I refuse to use it." Arys' face was serious. "If it helps any, Quatre, I trust you." Her eyes were pleading, hopeful, and trusting.

Quatre had to look away from her eyes, but he made his decision. "I can't let my own fear get in the way of winning this battle."

Arys gave him an encouraging smile. "Thank you, Quatre."

Quatre reached for the console with trembling hands and typed in the code. Quatre leaned back as the viewscreens around him glowed yellow. He shivered as the emotions drained from him, leaving him feeling empty inside. But only for a moment. Then, data on the enemies began streaming through his mind and he somehow managed to process it in a millisecond.

"Arys, take the mobile doll unit at these coordinates." Quatre touched a button on the console. Quatre's voice was void of emotion but there was no icy edge in his speech. "Use your beam emitters at high power. They're all clumped together."

"Right." Arys flew off, ready to take on at least seven mobile dolls by herself, but with Quatre's information she would be able to defeat them easily.

Arys charged up her beam emitters as she brought Archangel's hands together. With her wings spread for stabilization and leaning back slightly, the Archangel was a majestic as well as menacing sight. Regardless of what the Gundam looked like, the dolls charged at full power. Arys waited until the right moment and released the deadly energy in her Gundam's hands. The beam washed over the bunched up mobile dolls disintegrating them one by one. What was left was not significant.

"Trowa, the mobile doll unit to your right is performing a generic box-in maneuver. Take them out any way you see fit. Do a sweep from top to bottom."

"Understood." Trowa rocketed toward the unit with his shield raised to deflect any enemy fire. When he got into position, Trowa decelerated and brought his weapon to bear on the highest doll in his line of sight. Just to be sure he destroyed all of them, Trowa popped open his Gundam's chest cannons. As the dolls came into range, he let fly every available round he could. As the explosions blossomed in front of him, Trowa waited for them to clear. Two dolls had survived the assault, and Trowa flicked open the steel blade on his arm as he dropped his twin guns. He charged into the fray. A doll fired at him as he flew toward it, and Trowa dodged the lasers easily. Trowa rammed into it with his knife and it exploded into scrap metal. The second doll seemed to be retreating.

"Never turn your back on me!" Trowa pushed his thrusters to the max as he chased down the mobile doll. He grabbed the doll from behind and jammed his knee into the back of it. Trowa flicked the missile switch on his flightstick. He let fly a single missile. The doll launched forward with a gaping hole in its back. It did not explode.

Quatre continued giving out orders, trying to stay one step ahead of his enemy. Duo and Wufei careened away, teamed together to flank two approaching mobile doll units. As Duo confused the dolls with his hyperjammer, Wufei dispatched them quickly with his double dragon arms. Quatre proceeded to battle with the unit right in front of him. With the help of the Zero System, Quatre was able to slice through them in a few seconds using his sickles.

Quatre could tell that some outside force controlled these mobile dolls. How though? He had never heard of mobile dolls being controlled by a human located somewhere else.

"Who are you?" He asked his unseen enemy.

Dorothy Catalonia moved her hands across the half-sphere on the console in front of her. On her head, she wore a helmet connected to a modified Zero System. The connection allowed her to control hundreds of mobile dolls with a thought. It was an exhilirating experience. She frowned as a unit she had sent to battle the Archangel was wiped out in a few seconds. Gradually, she was losing her advantage in the battle.

"What's happening?" She whispered as units began disappearing off the viewscreens around her.

She couldn't see the viewscreens physically, but she could see them in her mind.

"No..." She had been able to hold back the Gundams for only fifteen minutes. They had begun to advance forward.

She realized that one of the pilots somehow knew every move she thought to the system and managed to counterattack before the system could implement it in her battle plan.

Dorothy struggled to regain her control of the system, but she found that the problem wasn't that she was losing control, it was simply that the enemy was staying one step ahead of her.

Dorothy raised her head, her eyes narrowed beneath the virtual-reality helmet. "Who are you?"

She slowly began to search for a Zero System signature. It was coming from the Sandrock. Her mind zeroed in on its position. It was fighting on the frontlines and the other Gundams were fanned out behind it in formation. Dorothy smiled grimly.

"Quatre Raberba Winner."

Quatre jerked back in his seat as he felt something brush his mind. The enemy was on the Libra. And he knew who it was. She was controlling the mobile dolls using the Zero System.

"Dorothy Catalonia."

The two warriors had waited a long time for this. Heero parried the Epyon's beamsword with a quick flick from his beam saber. He wanted it to be a fair fight and the Eypon had no guns, so they had both resorted to using their close-range weapons. They had long-ago begun fighting in outer space instead of on the Libra's hull. It was time they ended it.

Both pilots were evenly matched in ability so neither had the upper hand at the moment. Heero went on the offense, swiping his beam saber toward the Epyon's torso. Zechs blocked it with a quick jab forward from his broadsword and a leap backwards. Both pilots paused to assess the situation. The sight of the two Gundams facing each other was magnificent.

"Are you frightened of me, Zechs?" Heero's voice was taunting.

"Far from that, Heero Yuy." The Eypon pulled out its whip and experimentally flicked a few times in the Zero's direction. The whip flew past Zero its motion making a sound like a screaming demon. "Who do you think will survive this battle?"

Heero replied with a leap backwards and a wave of his beam saber that teased Zechs to come toward him.

"I won't fall for any of your tricks." Zechs flew forwards slowly.

"I didn't think you would." The Zero blasted forwards, ramming straight past the Epyon's beamsword and into the Gundam's chest. The two Gundams flew backwards, the Eypon struggling to disengage itself from the Zero. The scraping metal made an awful sound audible to both of them.

Zero pushed off of Epyon slighty and raised its arm to attack. The beam saber glowed brightly washing the Zero's face in a green hue. Heero swung his saber at Epyons head. Zechs easily blocked the blow with his huge beamsword. The weapons met with a flash of sparks.

"You are not fighting with all your might." Zechs' voice sounded offended.

Heero's lips pulled into a feral smile. "I want to give you a chance, Zechs." The Zero and Epyon dislodged themselves from each other and swung around. They charged once again. From far away, the two warring Gundams looked like comets flying towards each other.

"Fire the main cannon!" Dorothy shouted into the comm unit in her helmet.

"But we're moving at top speed!"

"The Peacemillion is within range. We can destroy it in one shot and this battle will be over!" Dorothy tried to keep her mind focused on the enemy and speaking into the comm unit at the same time.

"We have to slow to a safe speed. Firing the cannon now would do serious damage to..."

"I don't care. Fire that cannon!"

"The Libra's going to fire its main array!" Sally called out over her shoulder.

"What!" Noin sprinted over to Sally's station and peered at the screen. "Is Zechs crazy? The Libra's going too fast for it to fire the main cannon without sustaining structural damage."

"Get us out of here!" Sally yelled to the helmsman. "Pump up the output in engines one, two, and three!"

"Yes, ma'am." The helmsman immediately began moving the Peacemillion out of harm's way.

Sally turned to look up at Noin. "Zechs is out battling in the Eypon. Dorothy Catalonia's the one who ordered the Libra to fire."

Noin shook her head in disbelief. "Can we get out of the way in time?"


	8. Chapter 8

**Face of the Enemy**

**Chapter 8**

Zechs surveyed the damage that had been done to the Libra. He sighed, exasperated.

"Get the scientists up here."

"Yes, sir." One of the White Fang crewmembers practically ran out of the room, eager to escape the storm he could sense brewing there.

As soon as the crewmember left, Zechs turned on Dorothy. She stood in front of him, stoic, totally in control of her emotions.

Zechs seemed to be repressing an angry reprimand, but instead, his ice-blue eyes settled on Quinze, who was resting against one of the control consoles.

"Tell the scientists what needs to be repaired. I'll be in my quarters. I'm not to be disturbed."

"Yes, Commander Milliardo." Quinze straightened to his full height and nodded.

Zechs glared at Dorothy one more time, then turned on his heel and strode out of the room.

Arys sat at a table in the ship's lounge with the other Gundam pilots. She was exhausted and was tempted to just lay her head down on the table and leave it there. She had asked if she could help with any of the repairs on the Peacemillion but Sally and Noin had insisted that she get some rest. Arys was afraid that if she went to sleep she would never wake up. Since they were supposed to be on call in case the Peacemillion was attacked again, she had come to the lounge for a drink. She hadn't been surprised to find the other pilots there as well.

Heero sat across from her, staring at his glass blankly. However, Arys knew better. He was thinking, of what, she didn't know. Arys thought she probably looked the same way. She slowly sipped some of her drink and sighed tiredly.

Heero looked up, his eyes losing their blank stare.

"Are you all right?"

Arys nodded, twirling her glass around in little circles on the tabletop. Wufei was by himself over in one corner of the room. His eyes were closed and he looked very relaxed. Arys absently wondered how he managed to stay in that area while floating in zero-grav. Trowa was sitting on the floor up against the wall. His eyes were closed and his head was bowed. He looked like he was asleep. Quatre was nowhere in sight; he was probably on the bridge. Duo was sitting on the couch eating a bag of potato chips while watching TV. Arys craned her neck to see what he was watching. It looked like a show about a kid throwing red and white balls at innocent-looking, almost cute animals.

She gave up trying to figure out what it was on her own. "Hey, Duo! What are you watching?"

Duo turned to look at Arys. "I dunno. Some cartoon. It's kind of weird actually, but I like that cute mouse thing that follows the kid around."

Duo stood up and looked at his hand smeared with potato chip grease. He stared into the depths of the bag. "Ick, what kind of potato chips are these?"

Arys stifled a laugh in spite of her weariness. "The kind you eat, Duo."

Duo smirked at her and walked over to the soda machine.

"Well, if there's one thing you can't louse up, it's soda. No siree, sealed in a can, cut off from our dirty environment." Duo dropped some coins in the slot and made his selection. He looked expectantly at the chute at the bottom. He frowned. "That is, if you actually get it."

The machine made a whirring sound but no soda came out.

Arys laughed out loud this time. Heero turned to look at Duo.

"Need some help with the soda machine?"

"No, I got it." Duo smacked the machine a couple of times.

It whirred louder but did nothing else. Duo frowned at it and resorted to kicking the machine. The loud sound Duo's kicking made caused Wufei and Trowa to look up. Duo turned around.

"Sorry, folks, just trying to get a soda."

The two closed their eyes again. Heero got up and walked to the soda machine. Duo, giving up on his soda, went to retrieve his potato chips.

Heero scanned the body of the machine, tapped a couple of places, and smacked one spot with his fist. A solitary soda rolled down the chute. Heero picked it up. Duo ran over to Heero with snack in hand.

"How'd you do that?" Duo took the soda from Heero.

Heero merely shrugged and went back to the table.

"Well, thanks. Want some potato chips?"

Arys shook her head, laughing. Yes, all of them were certainly battle-weary, and all of them could have used a good night's rest. However, it was nice to know they could still laugh in spite of their grim situation. Unfortunately, the moment wore off as quickly as it had come. Arys laid her cheek against one clenched fist and closed her eyes, thinking to herself that she would just give her eyes a rest for a few minutes.

Heero watched as Arys began to nod with sleep as she sat at the table. Every so often she would jerk back up and open her eyes to see him watching her, and then promptly fall back asleep again. He smiled and walked around the table to her. He put a hand on her shoulder. She responded with a soft moan, but her eyes opened sleepily.

"Hmm? What is it, Heero?"

"Come on, Arys."

He took her arm and slowly pulled her to her feet. She stumbled after him over to the couch and he sat down, pulling her down beside him. Heero put his arm around her, so that she could pillow her head on his shoulder. She moved closer to Heero, sighing in blissful contentment. Soon, she was again fast asleep, with a slight smile curving her lips. Heero gently ran a finger across her cheek and through her hair, then rested his head against hers, breathing lightly so he wouldn't disturb her.

The tender moment was abruptly ruined by Duo's voice.

"Hey! I was sitting there!"

"Quatre, we've got a problem," Noin said as soon as Quatre walked onto the bridge.

"What is it?" Quatre looked around, wondering where the rest of the pilots were. He had been working on his Gundam, removing the Zero System from its computer system.

"Actually, we've got more than one problem." Sally pointed to a radar screen that monitored the area of space around the Earth. "First problem is that the World Nation forces have begun gathering at the resource satellite MO-II."

Quatre studied the screen thoughtfully. "Looks like Treize is preparing for an all-out assault on the Libra."

"It's a perfect time to prepare. The Libra is still incapacitated."

"If only we knew how long the repairs would take." Noin walked over to where Quatre and Sally were standing.

"You said there was another problem," Quatre said.

"Right." Sally touched a button on the console. "The mobile dolls around the Libra have shifted positions. It's hard to tell, but they seem to be gathering for an attack also."

"Who are they going to assault? Us or the World Nation?" Quatre asked.

"We're the closest threat." Noin shook her head. "Zechs will want to get rid of us first before attacking the World Nation."

Quatre glanced around the room. "Where is everybody anyway?"

"Down in the lounge. I suggest you go down there, Quatre. We'll call as soon as the White Fang attack."

"And that should be in only a few minutes..." Sally pointed to the radar screen. "There are two mobile dolls heading this way. They're built differently than... wait a sec..." She toggled through the enemy identification numbers. "Those two mobile dolls are the Vayeate and the Mercurius!"

"Quatre, could you...?" Noin turned around to find that the blond pilot had already disappeared out the door.

"Hey!" Quatre burst into the lounge with a shout. He glanced around the room, his blue eyes frantic. "We've got trouble coming!"

Duo barely looked up from his position on the couch. He was watching TV. Arys and Heero still slept on the other end of the couch. "Tell me something I don't know, Quatre."

Quatre spoke again, still out of breath. "Two modified mobile dolls. The Vayeate and the Mercurius models."

Duo jumped up, his cobalt blue eyes flashing. "Did you say the Vayeate and Mercurius? Sounds like they're right up my alley! Finally, something that's not a Virgo. Wake up the rest of the guys, Quatre! I'll get out there first!" Duo sprinted out of the lounge.

"Wake up!" Quatre shouted in the middle of the lounge. Several pilots stirred but did not wake up. Quatre unholstered his pistol and shot into the air. There was a single hole in the ceiling, but Quatre didn't care as long as his friends woke up.

The remaining four pilots jerked to their feet. Arys rubbed sleep from her eyes. Heero drew his gun and pointed it in Quatre's direction. Wufei was instantly alert and on his feet. Trowa's eyes snapped open and he surveyed Quatre calmly.

"What did you do that for?" Heero asked as he put his gun away.

"White Fang is attacking! We've got to get to our Gundams!"

Without another word spoken, the five pilots left the lounge, running down the hallway to the cargo bay.

The Deathscythe whirled its weapon around in a circle of green fire. It slammed the weapon down on top of the Mercurius' shield generated by its planetary defensors. The Mercurius jetted backwards, keeping the shield from weakening totally.

"Boy, these guys are good." Duo muttered. "Their fighting style seems familiar."

The Vayeate rammed into him from behind, and Duo jerked forward in his harness.

The Deathscythe turned to attempt a counterattack with his scythe, but the Vayeate leaped back, pulling out its beam rifle. The large weapon fit neatly under the mobile suit's right arm. As it powered up, Duo pulled back on his flightsticks. He backed into the Mercurius and felt himself jerk forward again as the planetary defensors bounced off the Deathscythe's hull. The Vayeate fired its beam rifle at Duo, and the ball of energy crashed right into the Deathscythe's arm. Luckily, the Vayeate was not using full power. Duo had the choice of being disintegrated by a beam rifle or being bounced around by planetary defensors. He chose neither.

Duo gritted his teeth, trying to keep control of his anger and his Gundam. He aimed his attack scissors at the Vayeate's pistol arm.

"Dodge this!" He shouted as he triggered the attack scissors.

The pronged weapon flew forward and sliced through the Vayeate's left arm, clipping it off neatly along with the pistol in its left hand. With the Vayeate temporarily disabled, Duo went after the Mercurius with a vengeance, raising the Deathscythe's bladed weapon high as he flew toward the mobile doll.

As Duo approached the Mercurius, he realized that he recognized the dolls' style of fighting. Somehow, the dolls had been programmed to fight like Heero and Trowa.

"Trowa! Heero!" Duo exclaimed. He ducked his head with a knowing grin. "Now that I know who I'm fighting, I can defeat you!"

Duo dove toward the Mercurius, his scythe coming down hard on the shield. The flash was blinding, but Duo squinted his eyes to see. The Mercurius drew its saber shield and activated it. The doll swung down and missed Deathscythe by a scant inch.

"Whew, that was too close!" Duo pushed off the suit opposite himself and reassessed the situation.

Hilde piloted a shuttle toward the Libra, managing to avoid the mobile dolls heading for the Gundams she could see fighting near the Peacemillion.

"Duo's going to kill me, but I don't care. I need to help, and this is the only way I can."

She punched in a code to open a cargo bay on the far side of the Libra.

"I'm coming in." Hilde slid the shuttle expertly into her chosen cargo bay. She popped open the shuttle's cockpit hatch and leaped out, drifting slightly in the low gravity.

Hilde headed for a uniform dressing room near the bay. It was time to blend in with the natives.

Five minutes later, Hilde stepped out of the room, wearing a White Fang uniform. She purposefully walked down the hallway, smiling at a few White Fang members who passed her in the hallway. They smiled back but the smiles were obviously forced. Apparently, there was something big going on and Hilde meant to find out what it was. She sneaked into a room labeled "Mainframe."

The two crewmembers inside looked up from their work at their consoles.

"Hey!"

Hilde took out a silenced pistol. With precise aim, she pulled the trigger. Both men crumpled to the floor. Hilde walked over to them and looked down at their faces sadly. She had not wanted to kill them, but she had no choice. She slid into a chair in front of one of the main consoles.

Hilde swiped a hand across her forehead, brushing back short midnight-black hair as she did so. She tapped the console, her fingers flying across it expertly. The computer beeped softly at her, and Hilde stood to her feet. With a flick of her finger, she ejected a disk from the drive and flipped it into her chest pocket.

"Gotcha."

Hilde walked out of the computer room, leaving behind two White Fang members dead on the floor. She slipped her pistol into its holster.

"Now to find an escape route." Hilde smiled to herself. "A shuttle bay would work fine."

Hilde scanned a map on the wall beside her. "Hmm..." Her finger traced a path to a rather large shuttle bay down the hall.

"There we go."

Hilde sauntered down the hall. She heard quite a few conversations as she did so.

"That Dorothy is nuts! First, she burns out the main cannon, now she's trying to defeat those Gundams!" One crewman stated in exasperation.

"Well, word has it that Zechs had that Zero System control room built for Arys Walker, but when she defected, he had to resort to letting Dorothy use it. Arys would have been able to handle it better. I heard that she trained for five years using the Zero System. Poor Zechs. Too bad she decided to leave before he could use her for his secret weapon."

"I wonder what made Arys leave?"

"She didn't agree with Zechs' goals."

"Ouch."

Hilde briefly wondered who this Arys Walker was and where she had defected to. Hilde passed another group of crewmen.

"Have you heard? Relena Peacecraft is aboard."

"What is she doing here?"

"No one knows. You know, she is Commander Milliardo's sister. That probably has something to do with it."

Hilde's violet eyes narrowed slightly.

Hilde reached her destination just as the door opened to reveal Relena herself standing in the middle of the cargo bay.

Relena was talking to a few White Fang members. Hilde heard her mention something about the Gundams. As soon as the White Fang crewmen left, Hilde came up behind Relena and put a hand on her shoulder.

"You know about the Gundam pilots?"

Relena started a little and turned around to look at Hilde curiously. "I... I..."

Hilde smiled at her. "It's okay, Relena. You can trust me."

Relena swallowed, then nodded.

Hilde patted her chest pocket. "I have something here for a certain Duo Maxwell."

Relena's eyes brightened. "Do you know Heero Yuy? Do you know where he is?"

Hilde shook her head. "No. But I'm sure Duo does. I'm going to the Peacemillion right now." Her gaze traveled up to settle on one of the shuttles sitting a few yards behind Relena. "Did you want me to take a message to this Heero Yuy?"

Relena frowned slightly, almost as if she were remembering something. Then, she shook her head. "No."

Hilde studied her thoughtfully. "Why don't you come with me, Relena?"

"I can't. I still have to try to convince Zechs to turn from his ways."

Hilde put a hand on Relena's shoulder again. "That will be difficult."

"But I have to try."

"Do or do not, there is no try."

"Huh?"

"Never mind."

"Arys, let's try a new tactic."

Arys looked down at Heero's image on her viewscreen. "What did you have in mind?"

"Linking our Zero Systems."

Arys jerked forward in her harness as a mobile doll fired a beam of energy at her. The beam hit the Archangel's arm. Heero's suggestion had broken her concentration. Arys pulled back on her flightsticks and brought her double beam sabers down in an arc that ended on the doll's head. The Virgo drifted off, completely disabled.

"How, Heero?" She had never tried linking two Zero System pilots together before. Simply because two Zero Systems hadn't been available before for her to experiment on.

"Use your mind, Arys. Like you did before."

"I... I don't know how, Heero. I've never done this before. And we've never even tried linking in a simulation."

"We have to try, Arys."

Arys sighed. "All right. Cover me while I establish the link."

"Understood."

Arys leaned back as she reached for the Zero System activation button. She hoped this worked, and that it would work right. Otherwise, she and Heero would probably both go insane at the same time.

Arys felt the familiar draining of her emotions and quickly reached out to the Zero. She found the connection to Heero's Zero System and not knowing what else to do, she called his name. It was like she was in a black chamber. Her voice echoed in the dark room.

"Heero?"

"I'm here, Arys." A figure walked toward her.

"What do we do now?"

"Can you fight? Cover me while I try to link with you?" His voice echoed back to her.

A part of her mind responded to his request. And suddenly, Arys was seeing two images. The dark room was superimposed over the viewscreens in her Gundam's cockpit. Arys reached for the flightsticks and began firing her Shiv rifle at the enemies surrounding her. Her precise hits destroyed them with one shot.

"I got it." Heero's voice came to her, but not over the comm. It was a strange feeling.

Arys jerked back in surprise as a waterfall of data streamed into her mind, giving her information from both Gundams. She was now fighting the enemy from two different viewpoints, hers and Heero's. She could see things happening that Heero couldn't, and her mind relayed that information to him. Data would come flooding back to her, telling her where to go, what to do, who to attack.

A squad of about 20 mobile dolls jetted toward the pair. Arys saw the formation of the dolls.

Within a millisecond, Arys had calculated the angles of attack she and Heero would have to use.

Arys got into position. She looked out her starboard viewport to see Heero doing the same. The dolls were lined up in 2 rows with 10 in each row.

Heero raised his buster rifle. Archangel and Zero formed up.

Archangel and Zero fired their weapons. The beams formed a perfect X across the mobile doll formation. The first row was destroyed immediately, but the second row responded and broke formation.

_Heero broke right with 3 dolls in tow. Arys held her position until Heero was far enough. An alarm sounded warning her that the remaining dolls were targeting her. She pushed her thrusters to the max toward Heero. _

_Heero was dodging the blasts from the Virgo suits easily. Arys locked on the nearest doll and let fly a small burst from her beam emitters. She did so with the remaining dolls. They were disabled quickly. _

_As if to prove her statement, a few dolls ran into the disabled Virgos. It made a magnificent explosion. Both Gundams were still flying at full speed. _

_OK. Decelerate now! _

_The Zero slowed drastically and the Archangel flew past with a large group of dolls behind. They seemed to be unaware of Zero's change in speed. The doll's backs were completely open to attack._

_Heero leveled his weapon at the retreating backs of the Virgos. A golden beam of light flew with great speed toward Arys and the dolls. Arys decelerated and banked down and left. She hoped she was out of the beam's path. Her fears subsided when she saw that the dolls following her had disappeared._

_The Zero and the Archangel fought in perfect sync with each other. While one attacked, the other would defend. Sometimes, both would attack, or both would defend, depending on where the Zero System found a weakness or a strength. Their maneuvers were flawless, as flawless as those of the mobile dolls. It was like an intricate waltz with both Gundams dancing around each other, both using their beam rifles to defeat the enemy._

_Quatre watched in amazement as Heero and Arys took out the remaining mobile dolls with one last blast from their rifles. The two Gundams stopped in their tracks, lowering their weapons. The Zero's eyes flashed green as the Archangel's flashed silver. _

_Arys and Heero appeared on the other pilots' viewscreens. Both pilots had haunted expressions on their faces. Apparently, they each had seen a lot more than just the mobile dolls during the battle._


	9. Chapter 9

Face of the Enemy

Chapter 9

Duo leaned down to touch Hilde's face. She was still unconscious, but her wounds had been all bandaged up. She did not respond to his touch. He straightened up and just looked down at her quietly.

"What was she doing on the Libra?" Heero asked as a medic wheeled away Hilde's gurney.

Duo held up a smeared disk. It still had Hilde's blood on it. "She got this for us." He handed it to Heero.

Heero took it. "Do you have any idea what's on it?"

"I haven't looked at it yet." Duo cringed as the medbay door slammed closed behind Hilde's gurney. "I... I couldn't."

Arys squeezed Duo's shoulder sympathetically. "It probably has the damage report on the Libra as well as anything else I don't know about that space fortress."

Duo glanced at Arys, his usual cocky expression replaced by an air of regret. "But why...?"

"Don't you see, Duo?" Arys shook her head. "It was the only way for her to show you that she cares for you."

Duo bowed his head, remaining silent. "I wish..."

Arys smiled at him. "Duo, it's okay, you don't have to say anything."

Quatre stepped forward, his face grave. "We can't let the data she brought us go to waste."

Duo nodded emphatically. "Yeah..." Suddenly, he perked up and looked at Heero. "Heero, Relena Peacecraft's on the Libra."

"She is?" Heero asked.

"Yeah, seems that Hilde met her there and Relena asked about you."

"I see..."

The other Gundam pilots silently walked away, down the hall toward the lounge. Arys, however, stayed. She leaned against the wall, her gaze on Heero.

"You should go save her, Heero." There was pain in her eyes, and it hurt him to see it.

Heero stood in front of her, his blue eyes boring into hers. He was tempted to put his hands on her shoulders, but he knew she would only shrug his hands away. "Arys, come with me."

Arys shook her head. "You don't need me, Heero. You can do this on your own."

"Wrong, Arys. You know every inch of the Libra."

Arys turned her head away, looking down the hall. "Heero, what did you see?"

Confusion filled his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"In my mind." Her gray eyes pierced his.

Heero countered her question with one of his own. "What did you see in mine?"

Arys' eyes grew distant, as if she were looking beyond him. "That little girl, Heero. The one you killed... And her puppy. I felt... your pain, your sorrow, when you realized that you had killed them." The words came out in short spurts as she tried to make him understand. Tears welled up in her eyes. "You've borne that pain for so long, Heero. How?"

Heero wondered what she wanted from him. "I just had to, Arys. They tried to train compassion out of me, but I don't think it ever really left."

Arys leaned her head back against the wall. "I, on the other hand, felt nothing when I killed. Nothing, Heero! I feel no remorse for all the destruction I've caused! What kind of person am I?"

This time, Heero reached out for her and she tried to struggle away, but he held her shoulders tightly. "Arys..."

Arys began to cry, tears spilling down her cheeks. "I... I don't deserve to live, Heero." Her tortured gaze swept his face.

Heero looked down at her silently, his face impassive. Instead of replying, he drew her close, rested his chin on top of her head, and waited for the storm to pass.

"I love you, but I don't deserve you..." Arys murmured. "She...does."

Something within Heero snapped when he heard those words. He forcefully pushed her away from him and glared at her. She cowered against the wall, thinking that he agreed with her. Her eyes were now dry, but they were blank, empty. Arys reached for her holster and slipped out her gun. Trembling, she limply held it out toward him, grip-first.

"Shoot me, Heero." She jerked her head down the hallway, toward the lounge where the other pilots were gathered. "Tell them I was a traitor. That I was still working for White Fang. They won't ask any questions then."

Heero's dark blue eyes flashed with subdued anger. "How dare you?" He growled, stepping forward and slapping the gun from her hand. It landed on the floor with a loud metal clang.

Arys looked down at the gun and back at Heero. She bent down to pick it up, but Heero kicked it away. It skittered down the hall and slid to a stop in front of the lounge door. Arys straightened up and found herself eye to eye with Heero.

"They care about you just as much as I do. They would never believe me if I told them that you were a traitor." Arys turned away from Heero's intense gaze, but he captured her chin in his hands and forced her to look at him. "And if I killed you, I would never forgive myself."

The lost, distant look in Arys' eyes vanished as she searched his face. Arys bowed her head, penitent. "I...I'm sorry." Then, she lifted her head, determination in her eyes. "I'll go with you, Heero."

Duo walked out of the lounge and almost tripped over something lying on the ground. It was Arys' gun. Duo picked it up and stared at it curiously. He shrugged and stuck the gun into his belt. He had gone into the lounge only to get a drink from the soda machine and once again, the machine had been stubborn. Finally, Wufei had used Heero's trick to knock some sense into it. Duo sipped his drink as he sauntered down the hallway. He wanted to check on Hilde and make sure that she was really going to be all right. Duo stopped in his tracks and slowly lowered the can from his face to see Arys and Heero standing in the hallway, kissing... again. Duo sighed.

"Don't you two ever stop?" Duo asked as he passed them, a disgusted look on his face.

Heero muttered something about his gun, let go of Arys, and drew his usual weapon, a PP7. He pointed it at Duo, eyes burning angrily. "Do you have a problem?"

Duo raised his hands, an innocent look on his face. "Hey, don't get violent now!"

"Heero, shouldn't we be going?" Arys looked a little sheepish.

Heero glanced at her, then holstered his gun. There was still an angry edge to his voice. "You're right." He shoved his way past Duo. "Let's go."

Arys gave Duo a repentant look. "Bye, Duo."

"Wait! Where are you going?"

Heero turned around, his face blank. "You don't need to know."

Duo pulled Arys' gun out and waved it at them. "Well, Arys, you might need this!" He tossed it to her, and she caught it deftly.

Heero glanced at her, an unspoken request in his eyes. Arys smiled. She handed the gun to Heero. Duo wondered what Arys was smiling about.

Heero flicked off the safety and aimed the gun straight at Duo. Duo froze. Heero pulled the trigger.

"Ahhh!" Duo tossed his soda can into the air and dropped to the ground to avoid the incoming bullet.

He heard a soft clink as something metal hit the ground. He removed his hands from in front of his face to see his soda can rolling on the floor, a bullet hole through it. Dark liquid drained from the can. Duo groaned.

"Man! Now I have to go get another one!"

Arys and Heero sat in the cockpit of a damaged Virgo carrier that had been captured during one of their recent battles. They neared the Libra quickly. Heero reached for the comm, and Arys leaned away from him, so that the comm camera would not see her.

"This is the Peacemillion attack unit 02... Propulsion power system hit on the port side, coming in for an emergency landing."

Arys pointed to a hangar bay situated on the side of the Libra facing them. Heero responded by throttling the carrier in that direction.

The comm flickered slightly with static as the comm officer on the space fortress replied, "This is the Libra bridge. Please confirm the number of survivors. Identification numbers..."

Arys switched off the comm. Heero's voice came to her through her helmet's intercom.

"There are no survivors..."

Heero crashed the carrier into their chosen hangar bay.

Water poured onto the hull of the flaming Virgo carrier. Smoke drifted around the hangar bay as men floated around, trying to assess what was going on inside the carrier. One of the floating crewmembers waved to someone nearby.

"Careful! It's very possible that there's a saboteur in there. Status on the fire?"

"We're working on it! Our hands are full!" He replied.

A lone figure slowly flew out of the carrier.

"Hey, you!" The first crewman motioned to the lone figure. "Seal off this block. No one gets out!"

"Roger."

The lone figure drifted away to join a dark shadow hiding behind an outcropping in the wall. The two figures ducked into an open doorway and floated down the hall away from the hangar bay, unnoticed.

Arys pulled off her space suit and threw her helmet to the floor. She and Heero were standing in a White Fang uniform locker room. Arys shook out her black hair and grabbed a khaki White Fang uniform from one of the lockers. She had worn her civilian clothes underneath her space suit, so she went to another area of the locker room to change. It was the first time she had worn the uniform. During her time in the White Fang, Arys had refused to wear the uniform, instead wearing her usual outfit of black pants and black belted jacket. Arys quickly slipped on the uniform, pulled on the brown fingerless gloves, and waited for Heero to signal her. The sound of fingers tapping on lockers reached Arys' ears, and she came around the corner to see Heero dressed in the White Fang uniform.

"Not bad. Maybe you should have joined the White Fang." She surveyed his uniform.

Heero handed her gun to her, his blue eyes serious. "I don't think so. Here's your gun. I put a silencer on it."

Arys took it and placed it in the holster at her belt. "Thanks."

"We need access to the ship's network."

Arys' eyes closed as she tried to remember the ship's blueprints she had memorized. Her eyes opened. "There's a computer room down the hall."

Heero punched the door lock mechanism. It slid open. He casually walked into the hallway, Arys following him. There was no one in the hallway at the moment, but Heero knew that security cameras were probably watching him and Arys.

"Are there security camers hidden in the ceiling?"

Arys nodded slightly.

"Keep your head down then."

Heero and Arys continued down the hallway, heading for a door marked "Security room number four."

"There are probably two guards in the room. Take them out," Arys whispered as they walked. "I'll take care of the cameras."

Heero nodded. They reached the door. Arys tapped a code into the keypad beside it and the door whooshed open. Both pilots dove inside. Heero landed on one knee, raised his pistol and expertly took out the two guards sitting at the console. They never knew what hit them. As the door closed behind her, Arys took precise aim at the two cameras located on the walls. Within a few seconds, they were nothing more than smoking husks.

Heero stalked forward to the console as Arys checked the bodies on the ground.

"They're dead."

Heero looked down at them. He glanced at Arys. "Leave no witnesses."

He slid into the chair in front of the console, while Arys leaned down to peer at the screen over his shoulder. Heero tapped a few buttons and various screens flashed by until he found the one he was looking for.

"High-security prisoners," Arys murmured close to his ear. "Classified information." She smirked. "We'll see about that."

"Do you know the password?"

Arys replied by reaching in front of him and typing something into the keyboard.

One name showed up on the screen. "Bingo. Relena Peacecraft. Sector 1, Unit 15. That's one level above us," Arys said.

Heero pulled up a map of the space fortress and highlighted the path from the security room to Relena's room. Heero studied the map quickly and then reached forward to touch the console. The screen cleared. He stood to his feet and then motioned Arys into the chair.

"I'll get her. You stay here and see if you can locate Zechs."

Arys nodded. "Understood."

Quinze slammed his hand down on the security officer's console. "You let an infiltrator slip through? Fools! You let it happen again? I told you to be ready for this!"

Zechs sat in his command chair, completely in control. "Calm down. I was prepared for this eventuality... But it came sooner than I'd anticipated." His icy gaze subdued Quinze for a moment.

"Huh?" The enigmatic former leader of the White Fang looked confused.

"I suppose I should say that the gundam pilots live up to their name." Zechs stood to his feet and came forward to where Quinze stood by the security console.

"What do you have in mind, Mister Milliardo?" Dorothy asked from her position beside the command chair.

"As long as they've made their presence known, there's nothing but for me to make mine known." Zechs studied the security screen for a moment and then headed for the door.

"But there's been no confirmation of the infiltrator yet," Dorothy said, a slight tone of doubt in her voice.

Zechs turned to look at her. Dorothy had to struggle to keep her eyes on that cold face.

"It has to be him... Heero Yuy. And he's probably brought our little Windrider with him." Zechs' use of his nickname for Arys was not affectionate. Zechs left the bridge, the door sliding closed behind him.

Relena stood in her room, staring out the window. Outer space looked so peaceful when there were no battles being fought in it. She cocked her head. And yet, it looked so cold and lonely at the same time. She wondered if that was what she was doomed to. A life given in the pursuit of peace that was destined to be cold and lonely. Full of bureaucracy, endless meetings, red tape, and paperwork. Relena sighed.

She heard the sound of the door opening behind her. Relena raised her head stubbornly

"I have nothing to say to anyone except my brother... Why don't you just leave me alone?"

A familiar voice spoke from the door. "I can't do that."

Relena whirled around to see Heero Yuy standing in the doorway, his face, as usual, competely emotionless.

"With you here, Noin and the others are shaken in their resolve." He stepped into the room, holding the door open with one hand.

Relena looked surprised. "I never would have thought you'd come for me, Heero..."

Heero turned around, glancing over his shoulder. "Let's go..."

"Wait! I still..."

Heero stopped in his tracks. "Zechs? Do what you have to. I have matters to settle with him as well."

Heero walked into the hallway, glancing around as he did so. Relena followed him.

Arys called up the tracking system on the Libra. Every White Fang uniform contained a tracking device on it. Fortunately, she had removed the devices from both hers and Heero's uniforms, so according to the Libra's tracking system, the room she sat in was currently empty. Each device contained a unique signature, and the data on Hilde's disc had contained the frequency for Zechs' signature. Arys plugged in Zechs' tracking frequency and hit the enter button. Almost immediately, the screen blinked at her. A schematic of the ship automatically zeroed in on the frequency's position. Finally, the changing screen stopped and a circular figure on the schematic flashed red at her.

"The stargazer room," She murmured.

The door opened behind her, and Arys smoothly spun in her chair and raised her gun in one graceful motion. Heero and Relena walked in. Heero didn't even blink at the gun aimed at his head, but Relena stared at Arys, horrified. When Arys saw that it was Heero and Relena, she lowered her gun and turned back to the console.

Heero marched forward to study the screen Arys had up. "You found him."

"He's in the stargazer room." Arys stood to her feet and ejected a disc from the drive. She tossed it to Heero. "Here."

Heero caught the disc and pocketed it. "Do you know where it is?"

Arys walked over to Relena, who still stood in shock at seeing Arys there. "It's okay, Miss Relena. I'm on your side. Soon, you'll get to have your say with your brother." She went to the door and touched the pad next to it. The door slid open. "And of course I know where it is, Heero."

Relena and Heero followed Arys out of the room. They both trailed her down the hall and to the lift located at the end of it.

"The stargazer room is three levels up. It's situated at the tip of the Libra's number four wing," Arys said blandly as they rode in the lift. "It has an excellent view." Her eyes settled on Relena. "But you wouldn't be interested in that."

The lift slowed to a stop, and the doors opened. Arys stepped off the lift and waited for Heero and Relena to get off.

"This way." Arys slowly walked down the hall until they came to a wall. She palmed the lock and part of the wall slid open.

The room inside was unique. Even from the doorway, Relena could see that there were stars everywhere, on the walls, on the floor, on the ceiling. A person with a case of vertigo would have fainted from the overwhelming feeling of standing in outer space. Arys stepped inside, apparently used to the room already. Heero walked in immediately as well. Relena wasn't surprised. Not much seemed to faze those two.

A familiar figure sat at a desk at the far end of the stargazer room. It looked up when they walked in.

"So you finally show yourself." A slight smile pulled at Zechs' pale lips.

"Brother!" Relena stepped in front of Heero and Arys. Arys made a move to pull her back, but Heero put a hand in front of her.

"Relena, I thought our conversation was over." Zechs' gaze settled on his sister. He looked uneasy at her presence.

"No. Not yet."

Zechs raised his chin in much the same way Relena had a habit of doing. "I will not change my mind." The wall behind him changed viewpoints to show the OZ attack force approaching the Libra. "This is what Treize is doing. Libra must take on this huge armada."

"Stop this immediately! It's absolutely meaningless!"

"No, it's not. Even if this was only a cowardly offensive, there's more than enough meaning in it."

"Brother..."

Heero pulled out his gun and aimed it at Zechs. "I don't know what's going on between you and Treize, but you shouldn't be involving others."

"This war must involve many others... This problem is related to the hope of all mankind."

"Is that why you became a representative of the colonies?" Heero's gun hand lowered a bit. There was something in his eyes that said he was beginning to understand.

"The colonies toyed with the will to fight, and continued the path to arms... Chose me as their leader... If you have problems with that, then you as a native of the colonies should take command of the White Fang." Zechs' tone was almost sarcastic, but his next few words revealed that he was indeed serious. "In other words... become my comrade."

"Comrade? I see. You would say that." Heero raised his gun again.

"Is that your answer?" Zechs asked.

"Does the person who finds so much meaning in this war have something more to say?" Heero's eyes had grown cold again. Arys stood silent beside him, wondering what Heero was fishing for.

"Unless one fights, one cannot realise the stupidity of war... I must make all of humankind realise this."

"Why have you chosen yourself to fill this role?"

"The former leader of the colonies, Heero Yuy, with the Cinq Kingdom, attempted to establish complete peace. One in space - one on Earth."

"Father?" Relena whispered.

Zechs raised his head proudly. "I am merely following my father's will."

"Father's will! You're saying that this battle... this miserable war will bring about the complete peace that the Cinq Kingdom advocates?" Relena stepped forward again, almost standing right in front of Heero's gun.

"Peace does not come without war," Arys murmured softly to herself.

"That is correct, Windrider." Zechs finally glanced at Arys. He nodded approvingly. "You still remember your lessons."


	10. Chapter 10

**Face of the Enemy**

**Chapter 10**

Heero sat on a crate, his arms folded across his chest. He had his eyes closed. Relena stood nearby, just watching him. Arys was across the room, judging how best to take the two men down standing on the catwalk above them if the three teenagers were noticed. She was nervously running her thumb across the barrel of her PP7.

Relena glanced at Arys, wondering why the girl had come. Relena looked back at Heero.

"Heero..."

The dark-haired pilot did not open his eyes, but he still replied. "I'm staying here until this fight is settled."

"Huh?" Relena asked.

Arys looked almost disappointed as the two men standing above them walked away, their boots banging loudly against the metal grid they stood on. She holstered her gun and came over to Heero and Relena. She leaned against one of the columns of stacked crates and closed her eyes wearily.

"Treize will find it hard to sink the Libra," Heero replied. "And when he tries, I'll destroy this ship from within."

"I still think this war can be stopped... The idea that bloodshed is needed to achieve peace is the logic of a despot."

"Those two are fighting with the purpose of shedding blood... Which is why I have no intention of stopping this fight."

"One must die..." Arys murmured softly.

Both Heero and Relena glanced at her, surprised. The girl had not spoken for the past half an hour. Apparently, the encounter with Zechs had rattled her. Arys had been acting strange ever since their conversation with the White Fang leader in the stargazer room.

"Arys?" Heero asked, looking at her worriedly. He couldn't understand what was wrong with her.

When Arys said nothing more, Relena spoke to Heero again. "But..."

"You're staying here." Heero told her forcefully.

"Why are you protecting me, Heero?"

"I don't want to feel indebted to Zechs when we meet again."

Relena sat down next to Heero. "If this ship goes down, then you and my brother will no longer have a reason to fight."

On the bridge of the Peacemillion, the remaining four Gundam pilots were watching the battle between the World Nation and White Fang forces. Howard, the Peacemillion's resident mobile suit mechanic, shook his head as flashes of light erupted all over the viewscreen.

"They seem to be rather well-matched. So which side do we deal with?" Howard asked.

Trowa spoke up from his position by the wall. "They appear to be well-matched only because the Libra's main cannon is down."

Duo grinned widely. "Every time they shoot the thing, it seems to break down." He shrugged. "Thanks to that, we're safe. But when they get it fixed, the battle should swing in favor of the White Fang."

Quatre crossed his arms over his chest and scanned the console in front of him. "The White Fang represent only a small portion of the opinions of the colonists. They can never represent the whole. Most of the colonists must want peace."

Wufei glanced up from his staring contest with the floor. "Does that mean that helping Treize would be acting in accordance with the wishes of the colonists?"

"Treize is fighting the Libra and its mobile dolls, not the colonies."

Trowa nodded. "The current menace is the Libra."

"Good enough. That thing is too powerful," Wufei agreed.

"But what about Heero, Arys, and Relena? They're still on the Libra," Sally said.

Duo waved off her question. He rolled his eyes. "Heero'll figure out something. The guy's full of surprises."

Howard broke in again. "So, it's settled?"

"Yes. Please set a course for the Libra." Quatre glanced back at the viewscreen, his blue eyes regretful.

"Picking up the Peacemillion! They're risking the battle zone and heading for our coordinates!" A crewman exclaimed. His voice pierced the relative silence of the Libra's bridge.

Quinze pushed up his glasses. "Do they still consider us the enemy?"

Dorothy laughed at him. "Naturally... They consider anything with power to be a threat."

Quinze glared at Dorothy. "This is no laughing matter! We can't use all our mobile dolls at once."

Zechs stood up from his command chair. "I'm going out."

Quinze looked surprised as Zechs headed for the door. "Commander?"

Zechs paused in the doorway. "I need three Virgos."

"Only three? That's..."

"More than enough to stay alive." Zechs disappeared from the doorway.

"Commander Milliardo?" Quinze peered into the hallway to see that the man was gone.

He walked back onto the bridge. His face was surly with displeasure. "Isn't that main array repaired yet?"

Five mobile suits launched from the Peacemillion's main hangar bay. Four of the Gundams and Noin in her Taurus suit formed up a safe distance away from the ship.

"Noin, can you serve as backup for the Peacemillion? Your Taurus suit will be a constant target for the enemy if you come with us," Quatre, who had been nominated to be in charge again by his fellow pilots, spoke up on the comm.

Noin smiled. She did not mind. "Roger that." Noin fell back as the Gundams continued toward the approaching Eypon.

"There he is... He's got only three Virgos with him. This'll be easy." Duo rubbed his hands together gleefully before placing them on his controls.

Zechs' face showed up on their comm screen. He looked insulted. "I'll show you the full potential of a mobile doll." The three Gundams lined up on one side while Zechs with the dolls waited on the other.

Duo throttled forward. "Here goes!"

"Hold on, Duo!" Quatre yelled.

Duo hit the brakes abruptly. "What's the matter!" He sounded a bit annoyed. The Virgos took this opportunity to fire off a few rounds at the Deathscythe. A few hit.

Duo grunted. "This better be important, Quatre."

"We have to fight together! That's the only way we'll win! Trowa! Wufei! Are you with me?" Wufei and Trowa answered affirmatively. The four charged into the battle. The mobile dolls were quicker and stronger than the others they had fought. The pilots learned that soon enough.

"Anyone else notice something different about these dolls?" Duo asked.

Wufei spoke up. "They seem to have improved shielding."

"They're a lot faster, too" Trowa added.

The Epyon had joined the fight, but it didn't acknowledge the other Gundams. All except for Quatre's. Zechs had taken every chance to beat up on the Sandrock.

Duo looked totally confused. "Why's he targeting Quatre so much?"

Quatre whirled his Gundam around to face the Eypon. The red-and-black Gundam seemed to glower at him menacingly. Quatre suppressed a shiver. "I know you'd like to cut down our numbers, but do you consider me the easiest target?"

Zechs' answer was brusque. "First, I want to eliminate the head."

Quatre pursed his lips together as he clamped his hands harder around his controls. "Fine, then. I'll take you on!" The Virgos kept the others busy, so there was no way for them to help Quatre in his fight against Zechs. Sandrock and Epyon squared off. They charged.

Duo watched the fight between Quatre and Zechs out of the corner of his eye.

"The Libra is leaving the area and heading for MO-II." A crewman spoke up from his station.

Howard scratched his goatee thoughtfully. "There's hardly any forces left at MO-II. The Libra must be planning to skirk MO-II and head on towards earth."

Sally glanced up at the main viewscreen. "Let's pursue them."

The same crewman who had informed them of Libra's movement spoke up again. "But... even if we do, we don't have any weapons capable of taking on the Libra."

"This ship has a means to destroy the Libra's main array."

The crewman looked shaken. "You don't mean..."

Sally turned to Howard. "Remove all non-combatants. MO-II should receive them."

Howard nodded. "Yeah, it's the only way to destroy the Libra. Transfer to the sub-bridge!"

The battle paused for a moment as the two teams fell back and regrouped. Quatre had put up a good fight against Zechs, but the Virgo mobile dolls were still intact.

"Of course... this is a natural reaction. But I can't let you destroy the Libra." Zechs had noticed the Peacemillion's course change and put in a course heading toward the Peacemillion.

Duo glanced down at his comm screen to confer with his friends. "The Peacemillion... We can't let him."

Wufei was getting frustrated as he attempted to blast away the three Virgos hovering in a sphere across the blackness of space. They made no attempt to move. "Nataku's attacks keep being deflected!"

Quatre shook his head sadly. "It's hopeless. The three Virgos are working in unison and have formed a powerful shield. We'll have to get in close for an attack. Once we destroy them, we can go after the Eypon."

"I have an idea." Trowa's face appeared on everyone's viewscreen. "Just like our strength comes from our fighting together, our greatest weakness is fighting apart. I'd say the same applies to those three dolls over there."

"Trowa is right. We must single out one of them." Wufei scanned the enemy.

"How do we do that? The shield covers all of them." Duo's confused face came up on the screen.

Quatre's voice was void of emotion. "We stab them in the back. Wufei, Trowa and I will distract the mobile suit on the left. Make sure you unload everything on it and stay in front of it. Duo, act like you're chasing after the Epyon. Then, turn on your active cloak and head back toward us. Stab the Virgo we're attacking from behind. Be quick, Duo. Hopefully, they won't see you."

Duo smiled as he flew off toward the Epyon. "Any strategy involving extreme speed is all right with me."

"OK, let's do it!" Sandrock, Altron, and Heavyarms proceeded to attack the suit on the left. Every Gundam fired its vulcan cannons and any other available weapon. The dolls compensated for the mass amount of firepower directed at the suit on the left by strengthening the shield in that area.

"Hurry, Duo." Quatre was nearly out of ammo.

Duo thumbed a switch on his flightstick. "Active cloak on. Here we go!" Duo thrusted back toward his friends at full power. Duo came into range of the Virgos and jetted straight to the doll on the right. Duo lifted his scythe ready to attack.

Quatre fired another burst at the mobile doll. His question was answered by the sight of a beam scythe being driven through the Virgo on the right. The one they weren't attacking. The Virgo exploded and the silhouette of the Deathscythe took its place. The other Virgos turned to fire on Duo. Wufei leaned back and fired his double dragon arms at the dolls. They connected. Wufei dragged the dolls toward him, and activated his scorpion tail cannon. As the dolls flew toward him, Wufei unloaded the cannon's double barrels into them. The bullets blew off the legs of the Virgos, and Wufei was left holding the upper torsos of each mobile doll. Wufei smiled.

Quatre sat back in his seat. The equally relieved faces of the other three pilots appeared on his viewscreen.

Duo leaned back in his seat and put his arms behind his head. "How'd you like that attack, Quatre?"

Quatre frowned at him. "Duo, you were supposed to attack the one on the left."

Duo returned Quatre's frown. "Well, it worked. Didn't it? Wufei's holding the proof." The Nataku was still holding the Virgo torsos. Wufei threw one towards Quatre. He caught it.

Quatre looked at the lifeless metal torso in Sandrock's hands. "I guess you're right." He smiled at Duo. "I do find it kind of disturbing that a pilot of one of the deadliest mobile suits can't tell his left from his right."

Duo's face returned to its usual friendly expression. "Stop whining, Rich Boy."

A Taurus suit flew in front of the Eypon, blocking its path to the Peacemillion.

Zechs' voice was commanding. "Noin, get out of the way."

"Zechs, I don't want to fight you, but..."

Zechs leaned forward to glare at Noin's image on his screen. "Noin. Pull back, now."

The ex-OZ soldier shook her head emphatically. "I won't. Even if you kill me."

Zechs lost his temper. Why didn't she just leave him alone? Deep down, he had no wish to kill her, but if she forced him to... "Noin!"

The Eypon raised its beam sword, preparing to bring it down on the Taurus suit hovering in front of it. Noin watched her death rise above her. Her expression was sorrowful.

"Zechs..." She whispered softly.

Quatre noticed that Noin had encountered the Eypon and he feared for her life. She had no weapons aimed at the Epyon. It was almost as if she were going to allow the Eypon to slice her Taurus suit in half. "Noin!"

Duo watched the face-off, an incredulous look on his face. "What's she doing?"

Wufei slammed a hand down on his console. "What're you doing? Fire!" He urged Noin.

Quatre tried to get Noin's attention again. "Noin!"

Noin closed her eyes and leaned back, ready to face her death. Zechs stared at her, his icy eyes unreadable. _Zechs shook his head. He leaned back with a groan and had the Epyon lower its beam sword. The Eypon blasted away, leaving the Taurus suit floating in space, unharmed._

_"Why? Why was I so weak?" Zechs growled to himself._

_Noin opened her eyes, saw that she was still alive, and sighed. "Zechs..."_

_"The Peacemillion is heading straight for us!" _

_Quinze turned to the crewman. "What! Can we change course?"_

_"No! There's no time!"_

_"Then, use the beam guns! Stop them at all costs!" Quinze strode forward, his eyes flashing angrily. "Are they crazy?"_

_"The beam guns aren't working, sir. Impact in five seconds..."_

_Quinze ducked to the ground, and covered his head, bracing himself for the collision. "They're going to ram us!"_

_"Cut the engines! Everyone brace for impact!" Dorothy grabbed onto a nearby console as she waited for the ground to shift beneath her._

_Heero's head jerked up as he heard sirens ringing in a distant part of the Libra. Arys glanced at him, hearing the alarms as well. They both stopped walking. Relena came up behind them, wondering why they had paused in the middle of the hallway._

_"What is it?" Arys asked quietly._

_"Get down, both of you. Cover your heads." Heero grabbed both Arys' and Relena's arms. "The Peacemillion's going to ram Libra."_

_"What?" Relena asked in disbelief._

_A loud boom rattled the entire space fortress like a tin can. The world turned upside down. Arys fell to the ground, reaching out for Relena as she did so. Heero threw himself over both of them as the fortress righted itself, dumping the ceiling on top of them. As soon as the shaking ceased, Heero shoved off the plaster that had fallen on top of them and staggered to his feet, pulling the two girls to their feet as he did so. Arys ran her fingers through her hair, then looked at her hands in disgust when she saw the plaster that covered them. _

_Heero stood motionless for a moment, his gaze darting about the hallway. Particles of dust still floated in the air from the collision. He brushed a hand across one of his arms, and Arys drew in a sharp breath when she saw that his fingers were smeared with blood. _

_"You're hurt!" Relena exclaimed._

_"It's nothing." Heero wiped his hand on his pants, spreading a crimson streak across his thigh. _

_Arys grabbed his hand and untied the white handkerchief around her neck. Heero watched her impassively as she cleaned off his hand and then proceeded to find the wound on his arm. Without a word, she pulled out a clean cloth from one of her pockets and wrapped the cloth around his arm. She stepped back, placing the bloody handkerchief into a pants pocket. She had taken care of his wound without looking him in the eye once._

_"Thank you," Arys whispered, her head down. Then, her face became blank once again. _

_Heero studied her for a few moments, silent. Then, he turned to Relena. "This means that Zechs won't get the victory he hoped for."_

_"The victory... he hoped for?"_

_Arys spoke up again, her voice low. "The Peacemillion's destroyed the Libra's main array. Now, the World Nation and the White Fang are evenly matched. Your brother will not win this war."_

_"But... the Zero is now needed," Heero said. _

_"Whoa. It's pretty well embedded in there, isn't it?" Duo observed to his fellow pilots. The four Gundams were hovering near the section of the Libra where the Peacemillion had rammed. _

_"It would have been difficult to destroy only the Libra, but now..." Trowa began._

_Sally's voice suddenly came over the comm. "This is Peacemillion. There's no threat of explosion, however, our engines are dead."_

_Quatre nodded. "Understood. We'll try to seize control of the Libra from within. We'll destroy their Mobile Doll operating system and call for the White Fang's surrender. And there's still the matter of Relena, Arys, and Heero..." _

_Duo smiled. "Demolitions, huh? It'll be just like old times..." _

_The Altron veered away suddenly._

_Duo glanced at Wufei's face on his screen. "Hey, Wufei! Where are you going?"_

_"I"m leaving it up to you," Wufei said. His frequency went silent._

_"Wufei!" Duo called in vain._

_"Let him go," Trowa told Duo. "It seems that he has an appointment to keep."_

_"Eh?" _

_Quatre touched a key on his console. "Let's hurry to the Libra."_

_Noin's Taurus suit veered away as well, breaking off from the remaining three Gundams' formation._

_"Noin?"_

_A sob could be heard over the comm. "I'm sorry, but I... I..."_

_Quatre's eyes softened. "Please, go then, Noin."_

_Duo had a grave expression on his face. "Looks like it's up to us now."_

_The three Gundams blew open a hangar bay door and entered the Libra through the gaping hole left there. Once inside, they split up to accomplish their individual missions._

_Duo eyed the soldiers passing underneath the beams he was hiding in. He listened to their conversation closely. He had left his Gundam in an empty hangar bay, hoping that no one would take it. But he figured that things were so confusing aboard the Libra right now that no one would dare steal it._


	11. Chapter 11

**Face of the Enemy **

**Chapter 11**

Wufei charged madly through a group of Virgos blocking his way to Treize. "Get out of my way!" He yelled.

Treize, seeing the Altron, approached the Gundam slowly. The Tallgeese II paused in its tracks as it waited for the Altron to finish battling the mobile dolls.

Wufei glanced at his viewscreen, noticing the Tallgeese II waiting patiently. He quickly dispatched the remaining mobile dolls with a blast from his Dragon Fang.

Treize aimed his weapon at Wufei's Gundam. Altron leaped backwards, fired back, and missed by a mile.

Treize chuckled. "What are you shooting at? I'm over here."

"Shut up!" Wufei growled.

Treize hardly did that. "Once there was a time when fights were finished with the touch of a button. The embodiment of that blasphemy is the mobile dolls and their directors aboard the Libra. If you take humanity out of the equation, victory and defeat will become something deplorable. God will not reach out his hand to either side."

The Altron swung its beam trident at the Tallgeese, but the Gundam ducked underneath the staff weapon.

Wufei was in a rage. "How dare you use your pretty speeches on me! The battles have spread because of you and many have died! I alone should be a satisfactory opponent!"

Treize nodded as he released the Tallgeese's gun from his Gundam's hand. "You're right." The Tallgeese pulled out its beam saber.

"Are you ready for me, Treize?" Wufei yelled loudly.

"Of course, but I won't make any allowances this time!" Treize replied as the Tallgeese raised its beam saber to attack position.

Duo stopped in one of the Libra's airlocks. He glanced back at the professors trailing him. "What now?"

Doctor J came up beside Duo. "First off, conduct us to Peacemillion."

Duo looked surprised. "Peacemillion?"

Professor G spoke up. "Everything is going just as Zechs has planned. We have to reach the Peacemillion and alter its course."

Duo could not have looked more shocked. "As Zechs planned...? He can't."

Doctor J shook his head. "He's dead set on targeting the earth. The remuneration of our sins will be accomplished if we can stop this."

Duo nodded, finally understanding what they wanted to do. "I gotcha. Follow me."

The Gundam pilot and the five professors continued down the hall. Duo was going to need his Deathscythe.

Quinze was beginning to look edgy. He kept walking over to the crewman monitoring the Libra's approach to Earth.

"Is the wave course prognosis ready?" He asked.

"Yes. We will hit the earth on our present course. There is a 69 probability that we'll hit one of the northern hemisphere continents. The energy that will be discharged is approximated at around 6,000 megatons."

"Does that satisfy you, Zechs?" Quinze asked the image on the main viewscreen.

"That's more than enough, Quinze. If Peacemillion and Libra are dropped on that blue planet, the seasons will terminate and a long winter will descend." Zechs did not look one bit happy about what he was saying.

Even Quinze had no idea what was going through Zechs' head right now. And it frightened Quinze in a way.

"But this calculation is based on the fact that the Peacemillion's engines are completely inoperative."

"The Peacemillion was once my ship, Quinze. She'll understand what I want her to do." Zechs' image disappeared.

"Yes..." Quinze muttered under his breath.

On the hull of the Libra, the Eypon and a white Taurus suit stood together.

"Can we expect the Gundams to understand as well?" Noin asked.

"Idiot. Of course, they'll get in the way." Zechs gave her an irritated look, but it hardly fazed Noin.

"Are you waiting for them?"

"They follow a different course than justice or appearances. They are professional soldiers... just as I, Zechs Marquise, am."

Heero was about to close the hatch when two slender forms appeared in the hatchway. Both Arys and Relena peeked their heads in. Heero momentarily ignored both of them until Relena spoke.

"Wait, Heero! Why do you have to go? The Libra will sink. There's no longer a reason to fight! My brother and the White Fang have lost!" Relena stepped into the light and Heero could see her face through her helmet's faceplate.

Heero glanced at Arys. "I thought I told you both to leave... now."

Arys shrugged, and Heero caught a glimpse of sadness in her eyes. He wondered what had put it there.

"Answer me, Heero!" Relena stamped her foot impatiently.

"Zechs believes otherwise, and it seems that Zechs and Treize have no intentions of calling a halt to this war. I have to go."

"Do you mean that the war will end if you go out?" Relena asked, daring him to reply with a yes.

"I will eradicate Zechs, then Treize. The war will end, and if you survive, peace will come. This is the only thing I can do for you, Relena."

Relena started at his last statement. The only thing he could do for her... The only thing... Only... Relena bowed her head. She looked at Arys, who stood beside her, looked at the pale face, saw that the gray eyes were cold and blank, saw the concerned glances Heero kept giving her. Something broke within Relena's heart and she fought to keep back the tears.

"I understand now. Goodbye, Heero." She pushed off from the cockpit hatch and drifted to the ground.

Arys made a move to follow Relena.

"Arys."

The sixth pilot turned around to see that Heero was gazing at her with something unfamiliar in his eyes. She could not tell what it was. She had never seen that look there before. He stepped into the hatch opening. Arys met him there, looking down at the floor, unable to meet his eyes.

"Arys... say something."

She shook her head.

Heero sighed in exasperation and put his arms around her as best he could in the space suit he was wearing. Arys looked up into Heero's eyes. Even through the faceplate of his helmet she could see their brilliance. They were intensely blue and there was a sternness in them she wasn't used to.

"What's wrong with you, Arys?" Heero asked, his voice lowered to a whisper.

"Please, don't let it be you who must die, Heero," Arys said softly. "I couldn't bear it. I've been trying to bear the idea for the past two hours, but I couldn't, I just couldn't..." Her voice trailed off as it grew hoarse with emotion.

Heero wished he could pull off her helmet and touch her face, but the lack of atmosphere in the hangar bay prevented that. He smiled at her instead. "I promise to come back to you."

She gave him a trembling smile in return. "You'd better." She shrugged out of his grasp and stepped back. "Now, go. Zechs is waiting for you."

Arys jumped off the platform and drifted to the ground. Heero watched as she joined Relena on the ground and the two girls walked out of the hangar bay. He backed into his cockpit, put his helmet back on, and triggered the hatch closed. Soon, he was heading for outer space, and his duel with Zechs.

Dorothy placed a helmet over her head. The mobile doll control room lit up yellow around them. Quatre glanced around him in surprise. He recognized the golden glow of the screens.

"This room..." He began.

"...is the Mobile Doll Control Room." Dorothy finished for him with a smug grin.

Quatre shook his head. "No, that's not it. This room feels like the Zero System."

"That's correct. The Zero system and the Mobile Doll controls are directly connected. You should know then that the Mobile Dolls are under the control of my fighting will now." Dorothy tossed him a fencing foil.

Quatre caught the foil in his hand and faced Dorothy warily. "What are you saying?"

"Duel with me, Quatre Winner. In a straight Zero-System fight, I lost; but I wonder about this time. You decided to fight of your own free will, didn't you?" Dorothy asked, tipping her head to the side curiously.

"I'd rather not, if it's at all possible. But if I don't, you won't surrender and this war won't end." Quatre positioned himself in a swordsman's stance.

"Let's see which is superior, unenhanced human reflexes or Zero System optimized." Dorothy lunged toward him, but Quatre dodged the attack and grabbed Dorothy's sword.

He gazed at her sadly. "Why do you love war? Why are you going so far as to do this?" He let go of her foil.

Dorothy smirked at him as she stepped forward, her fencing foil raised. "Gentle Quatre, why do you fight?" She jabbed her sword at him.

"My family! I fight to protect my family, to keep them from getting hurt!" Quatre parried her thrust with one of his own.

Dorothy danced back. "My father also fought and died to protect me, so I will

die fighting beautifully as well!" She attacked again, and Quatre copied her last move, dancing backwards.

"Then you ought to hate war!"

"No! Catastrophe and murder can't be blamed on war! We must overpower the enemy that lies within our hearts!" Each word was punctuated by a jab into Quatre's defense. He blocked every one expertly.

"I believe peace is more powerful than war! I believe in those who want peace!" Quatre stated indignantly as he moved forward, testing out Dorothy's defense.

"I ask you; you say that you fight for the people... What have they done for you in return?"

"I'm not in this war for the gain, Dorothy." Quatre's usually gentle blue eyes were filled with a righteous anger.

"That's why you're so stupid!"

Quatre leaped forwards, shoving Dorothy right into the wall. He glared at her. She only stared back at him. Then, the anger drained from his eyes and he let go of her, stepping back with his sword lowered.

"Please stop, Dorothy," Quatre said softly.

His quiet voice only made Dorothy more angry. She realized that she hated this boy with the loving heart, the forgiving heart. He had the heart of a noble, and she, Dorothy Catalonia, had a black heart that lived for war. For a moment, she wished she had a heart like Quatre's, but it quickly passed.

Dorothy covered up her pain with a cynical laugh. "The colonies betrayed the Gundams. The colonists killed your father! And, understanding nothing, they declared their independence! Everything that you've fought for has been for nothing! The consequences of worrying for others, the result of too much consideration for others, that has led to this horrible state of affairs!"

Quatre remained silent. He shook his head, choosing not to listen to her words.

The air was silent as the two girls walked down the hallway toward one of the shuttle bays. Heero had called in to Sally before he left, and she had relayed that they were evacuating through bay number four. They had said they would wait for Relena.

"What is it like, Arys?" Relena's question caught Arys off-guard.

The pilot's head tipped up, and Arys glanced at Relena in confusion. "What is what like?"

Relena continued staring into the darkness ahead of them. "What is it like to be loved by him?"

Arys hesitated and would not answer. Relena stopped walking and put a hand on Arys' shoulder. "Arys, please, I want to know."

"Are you sure?" Arys' voice was uncertain.

Relena nodded.

Arys looked down at the ground. "It's like a dream, Relena. A dream I never thought would happen." Her head tilted up again. "I...I'm sorry. That's all I can think of..." Arys' eyes widened, and she whirled around, drawing her gun as she did so. Her eyes darted about nervously, trying to see into the darkness.

"Arys, what?"

"Get down!" Arys dove on top of Relena, knocking her behind a pillar attached to the wall.

Bullets began flying by the pillar, scraping parts of it off onto the floor. Arys covered Relena with her body. The bullets suddenly stopped. Relena pushed herself up, but Arys motioned for her to get back down.

"They're reloading..." Arys whispered. "When I say go, run, Relena, as fast as you can. Get to the shuttle bay."

The raven-haired pilot leaped out from behind the pillar and began firing blindly in the direction of their assailants. "Go, Relena!"

Relena jumped to her feet and ran down the hallway toward the shuttle bay they were looking for. She heard more shots behind her, heard the thud of two bodies hitting the ground. Then, a third. After that, it was silent. Relena's ears registered that third thud. She turned around.

"Arys?" She said under her breath.

She went back the way she had come. Two men lay on the ground at the intersection of two hallways. They were completely still. Arys was sitting against the pillar they had hidden behind to avoid the bullets. She was holding her shoulder with one hand and breathing hard.

Relena bent down and put a hand on Arys' uninjured shoulder. "Arys?"

Arys started slightly when she heard Relena's voice. She glared up at the girl. "I thought I told you to run!"


	12. Chapter 12

**Face of the Enemy**

**Chapter 12**

As soon as Zechs saw that the Wing Zero was approaching, he throttled forward to meet the Gundam. It was time...

Without preamble, the Wing Zero leveled its twin buster rifle at the Epyon and fired at half-power. The Eypon flew right through the incoming beams of energy and decelerated as it approached the Wing Zero.

"There are conditions for the creation of ultimate peace. First, the disposal of all weapons. Further, taking from people their desire to fight!" Zechs said as he flew away, drawing Heero closer to the Libra.

Heero responded by firing his rifle at the Eypon again.

"The Libra will be dropped. It is the only way left towards peace," Zechs told him, calmer now.

Heero glared at Zechs, anger burning in his eyes. "The people who've lost Earth will hate you. The colonists will be dependent upon you! While you're alive, the same mistakes will continue to be repeated!"

Zechs smiled to himself.

_The Eypon's whip flew toward the Zero and wrapped around the Zero's buster rifle. With a quick yank, the powerful weapon flew from the Zero's hand. Zechs smiled again, but it was more of a smirk._

_Noin watched the ensuing close-combat battle with an emotionless expression on her face. She felt as if her heart had turned to ice. _

_"Zechs plans to die here. He doesn't want a legendary end. He plans to take all of the sins of humanity and cleanse them! Heero should know this... he should..." Noin bowed her head. "Oh, Zechs..."_

_Inside the Mobile Doll control room, Trowa was busy cutting the wires to the mobile doll control system, while Dorothy knelt in the middle of the room, her head bent away from the third Gundam pilot._

_"While fighting, I slowly destroyed my heart. That's why my heart has been dead for so long. Perhaps I have no worth as a human, but I have to stay alive." Trowa picked up a packet of wires and slit through them with a knife. Icons representing the mobile dolls slowly disappeared from the viewscreens as Trowa destroyed the system._

_Dorothy raised her head, her blue eyes staring into the darkness of the room. "What reason do you have to live?"_

_"Because I have a home to go to."_

_Dorothy stifled a sob. "Unlike you, I... don't have a home to go to anymore..." Dorothy bowed her head, tears threatening to spill from her eyes._

_Trowa walked over to Quatre, who was now conscious and fighting the pain that kept arcing through his body. "Can you stand up, Quatre?"_

_Quatre looked up at his best friend. "Tr..Trowa.. Please... Don't worry about me. Take care of her." He grimaced as Trowa took his arm. _

_"Don't worry. She can take care of herself." Trowa helped Quatre to his feet. Quatre leaned heavily on Trowa's shoulder, gritting his teeth against the pain._

_Quatre nodded slightly. "You're right."_

_Dorothy remained silent as the two boys floated toward the door. Her helmet drifted by her and she grabbed it, holding it against her chest. Trowa and Quatre stopped in the doorway and turned to look back at her. She glanced up, surprised. She had expected them to leave the room without another word._

_"You ought to hurry." Trowa nodded to her, standing in the light streaming from the hallway._

_"Please, you have to survive this," Quatre said._

_Then, the two boys stepped fully into the hallway and the door closed. Dorothy stared at the door for a moment, still seeing the boys standing there, looking at her with compassion in their eyes. She hugged her helmet to her chest and cried, feeling the cold emptiness of the room around her._

_Duo scanned his radar screen, then looked at his viewscreen to make sure he was right. The mobile dolls around him blended in with the space debris according to his radar, and he realized why._

_"Hey! They stopped moving," Duo said softly, confused. The Deathscythe flew up to one of the mobile dolls and tapped it on the head with a clenched fist. The fist bounced off with a resounding thunk. "Anyone home? Guess not." _

_Suddenly, the familiar face of the third pilot popped up on his comm screen._

_"Trowa!" Duo exclaimed with a huge grin._

_"Mission accomplished. Returning now." Trowa nodded to Duo._

_"Roger! How about Quatre?" Duo asked._

_"I'm ok..." Quatre's voice sounded weak. He looked about as bad as he sounded too. Duo wondered what had happened to him._

_"Have either of you seen Arys or Heero?" _

_Both pilots shook their heads. _

_"I'm here." Arys looked as bad as Quatre when her image showed up on the comm screens of the other pilots. _

_"Arys?" Quatre forgot about his injury for a moment when he saw Arys' pale face. "What happened?"_

_"I've got a bullet buried in my shoulder. I can't get it out by myself. When this battle's over, I'm going to need someone to dig it out for me," Arys' voice was soft, and her eyes were slightly glazed over. Duo realized that she had lost a lot of blood and was probably feeling light-headed even though she couldn't feel the pain from her injury._

_Duo made a face. "Well, I think we'll leave that to Heero. Are you sure you can make it through this?"_

_"I can't feel the pain, Duo. I'll be fine." Arys' eyes temporarily lost their blank look. She leaned forward, an inner fire burning in her gray eyes. "We have to finish this."_

_Duo nodded. "Right. If we live through this, we'll celebrate with some expensive champagne."_

_"That sounds great... as long as its non-alcoholic," Quatre replied with a weak chuckle._

_"Lt. Comm. Noin! Lt. Comm. Noin! This is MO-2! Please reply! Lt. Comm. Noin! Lt. Comm. Noin!" The comm operator kept repeating in the background._

_Sally glanced at Lady Une curiously. "Why are you attempting to communicate with her?"_

_"You'll see presently." Lady Une bent down next to where Sally sat at one of the consoles._

_"Colonel! Communications established!"_

_Noin's face appeared on the main viewscreen. She saluted smartly. "It's been some time, Colonel."_

_"Are you monitoring Heero and Zechs's battle?" Lady Une straightened up and walked forward until she stood in the middle of the rows of consoles in the command center._

_"Yes." Noin had a suspicious look in her eyes that only Lady Une could see._

_"Transmit what you're seeing to us through a direct line." Lady Une hoped Noin would listen to reason._

_Noin remained impassive. "I'm not a member of Oz anymore. I won't take your orders any longer."_

_Lady Une smiled. It was a foreign expression, but it softened the hard lines that had permanently set into her face. "This isn't an order. This is a favor asked from someone who also desires peace."_

_Noin pondered Lady Une's words for a moment then nodded. "Roger." She reached off-screen._

_Insantly, Noin's face vanished off the main screen and images of the Wing Zero and Eypon replaced it. The MO-II crew watched as the two clashed with their beam sabers. Lady Une waved to the comm operator._

_"Broadcast this to the entire Earth sphere."_

_"Yes, Colonel." The comm operator flicked a switch on his console and pushed the transmit button. _

_The battle scenes went out to the Earth, the colonies, and any ships flying through the area. Lady Une walked over to the comm operator and picked up the mike he was holding._

_"This battle doesn't hold any meaning for those on the colonies or the earth but this is a battle which MUST be fought because this is a battle on the parts of both to protect the colonies. AC 195... The curtain endeavors to fall upon the history of wars; but these two MUST fight or peace will not be accomplished. Do you feel it? The grief of this fight? Do you see it? The peace that extends behind this? This is the enigma of peace which must be addressed by everyone!" Lady Une spoke with authority and Relena stared at her with growing respect._

_Relena bowed her head._

_The professors were frantically trying to set off the propulsion system to create thrust in the ship's dead engines. Doctor J was hunched over on the ground, leaning against the propulsion room's control console as he fiddled with a few wires underneath it. He looked up at his fellow scientists with a frown._

_"It can't be altered with the usual methods." He sat back and glared at the mess of wires in front of him._

_Professor G hunkered down beside him. "Then we have to extract the boiler limiter on the propulsion cylinder."_

_Doctor J grinned widely, the fingers of his claw snapping against each other in anticipation. "You create an uncontrolled reaction to prevent one? That's one of my favourite tactics!" _

_Professor G stood to his feet as Doctor J performed what Professor G had suggested. Then, they both began tapping buttons on the console. The doctors heard a slight movement behind them. The sound of boots clinking on the metal walkway. The click of a safety being flicked off._

_"No one move, please." Quinze's voice was quiet, deadly._

_Doctor J turned around. "Quinze, long time no see."_

_Quinze fired a single shot. The bullet hit Doctor J in the arm. The scientist fell to his knees, gripping his arm. Apparently, Quinze did not want to kill them just yet._

_"I told you not to move," Quinze said as he took one step forward._

_"Kill us, that suits us fine. Our work is finished." Doctor J ignored the pain in his arm and staggered back to his feet._

_"You people have caused me a great deal of trouble. How many times will you interfere with Operation Meteor before you're finally satisfied?" _

_"The Gundams were to avenge Heero Yuy, both then and this time," Doctor J replied._

_"If you hadn't modified the mission instructions for the pilots, humanity would have understood it sooner!" Quinze was beginning to lose his temper._

_"True... but we think the earth and humanity are more worthwhile!" Doctor J exclaimed, about to lose his temper as well._

_"Shut up!" Quinze's hand tightened around his gun._

_"Looks like you'll have to allow us our interference one more time." Professor G reached behind him and pressed one button on the control console._

_With a cool look, Quinze fired. And a ball of flame devoured the Peacemillion's propulsion room._

_Zechs zoomed forward, ramming into the chest of the Zero. Heero pulled back, struggling to get the Epyon off the Zero. _

_"You and Trieze are identical. You destroy justice to protect the weak but you can't save them that way in the end!" Heero shouted._

_"The weak are created by the powerful! Because the earth was powerful, it made the colonies their servants and dominated them!" Zechs thumbed a button on his controls. _

_The Eypon, with a powerful upward thrust of its beam saber, disarmed the Zero, sending the Zero's beam saber whirling off. Zechs triumphantly arced the Eypon's beam saber to point at the Zero's head._

_"There! The contest is mine," Zechs said._

_Heero's eyes were impassive as he studied Zechs' image on his viewscreen. "I've always detested weaklings. Always worrying over when the next struggle would come, never trusting anyone, never saying what they wanted to say. I could never forgive them..."_

_Beneath the Gundam's feet, the Libra rocked as part of it exploded into space in a pillar of fire. Heero and Zechs did not seem to notice the blast, while Noin did._

_"Oh, no!" Noin's Taurus floated away from the Libra. Zechs glanced at his viewscreen to see Noin's suit drifting away._

_Heero recovered his beam saber while Zechs was distracted by Noin. He swung his beam saber and pointed it at the Eypon's head. The Eypon stopped in its tracks, its eyes flashing. _

_"All of humanity is weak. You and I are weak!" Heero shouted, waiting for Zechs to make the next move._

_"Peacemillion and Libra are moving away from the earth," The screen operator stated with a sigh of relief._

_Lady Une smiled as people began to pat each other on the shoulders. She watched the Libra begin to move out of Earth's orbit. Sally turned to say something to Lady Une, distracting her from the viewscreen. Lady Une did not see that one of the portions of Libra was continuing its descent into Earth's atmosphere._

_"No! A portion of the Libra is still falling!" The screen operator frantically tapped his console as he tried to get a closer image of the block._

_"What!" Lady Une whirled around from Sally to glance at the viewscreen again. _

_The comm operator put a hand to his ear in surprise. "A transmission has been received from the colony representatives!" He tapped his console and static flickered over the comm system._

_"We, the colony representatives have come to a decision regarding the surrender of the earth! We of the colonies request that White Fang change their demands. For many reasons, we strongly desire to co-exist with the nations of the earth. A cessation of hostilities is declared and we hope that the nations of the earth will follow suit. Our ambiguous decisions and behaviour have greatly perturbed many people and for this we apologize deeply."_

_"It's one of the colony leaders!" The comm operator exclaimed._

_Sally stepped forward, standing beside Lady Une. "At last, we have taken the first step toward peace."_

_Lady Une did not look encouraged. She pointedly glanced at the viewscreen. "But the Libra is still falling."_

_Arys throttled forward along with the other Gundams. The broken-off portion of Libra would reach the Earth's atmosphere in only a few minutes. She did not know how the four of them were going to get to the chunk in time, much less destroy it. Suddenly, the world seemed to fade to gray around her, and Arys shook her head, trying to clear it. She was still losing blood. She did not know how long she would last before she could get to a medbay. Heero was the only one who could end this war and she had no idea where he was._

_"Where are you, Heero?" She whispered._

_Duo was watching the falling portion of Libra with an angry look on his face. He seemed to blame the chunk for its descent. "We need more time!"_

_Quatre spoke up. "We have to demolish part of that block to diminish the devastation on earth!"_

_"It will be difficult." Trowa's controlled voice came over the comm._

_Arys glanced at each Gundam pilot on her comm screen. "But we have to try..." The viewscreen seemed to shimmer surreally._

_As her vision began to blur again, Arys realized that she needed something to keep her from falling unconscious. _

_Arys hesitated when the thought came to her. But it was true. Using the Zero System would give her the strength to make it through until the end came, whether that end was life or death. Arys pushed the button to activate the Zero System. The viewscreens around her glowed yellow-gold,and Arys sighed as she leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, the color of her eyes matched the viewscreens. She tried to relax as her emotions drained from her, but they came flooding back to her along with echoes of another presence. A familiar presence. Arys blinked in confusion. _

_"Heero?"_

_Apparently, linking was a permanent thing. She could feel him even though they had not established a connection during the battle._

_"Arys? What are you doing?" Duo sounded worried. The eerie yellow glow of her eyes made him nervous._

_"It's all right, Duo," Arys said. "I needed some help."_

_Duo could not understand how the Zero System could "help" anybody, but then he remembered that Arys had practically lived with the system for years. If anyone could handle it, Arys could. _

_"All right, Arys, but if you go crazy, we're going to have to shoot you," Duo said, trying to lighten the moment. _

_Arys made no comment. _

_The Altron suddenly appeared amongst them and then passed them by with a blast from its engines. The four other Gundam pilots were shocked to see the Chinese pilot show up._

_"Wufei!" Trowa said._

_Then, they saw what Wufei was carrying. It was the Zero's buster rifle._

_Heero glared at Zechs as he held the Zero's beam saber at the Eypon's throat. "It's finished, Zechs."_

_"No, not yet." Zechs looked nothing like a defeated enemy. _

_The Eypon flicked its whip at the hull of the Libra and gouged a hole into it. With a leap, the Eypon dropped into the hole and inside the space fortress. _

_"I won't accept that I'm the weak one!" Heero heard Zechs say as he disappeared. Heero pulled back on his flightsticks and the Zero leaped in after the Eypon._

_"This is bad." Howard was studying the block's schematic on a console screen._

_"The propulsion system?" Sally walked over to where Howard was sitting._

_Howard pointed a finger at the blinking red dot within the block of the Libra. "It's still attached of course. Even with a single block, the world will plummet into an endless winter!"_

_One of the OZ crewmembers touched his earpiece. "Gundams 02, 03, 04, 05, and..." Here, he paused. "...an unidentified Gundam..."_

_"Yes?" Lady Une came over to his station._

_"They've infiltrated Libra's A block."_

_Relena stepped forward. "Isn't that where Heero and my brother are?"_

_"Are they going to hold their cards until the last hand is played?" Lady Une asked softly as Libra's A block continued to fall._

_"The colonies have chosen their path towards peace freely. Your actions are meaningless!" Heero toggled to his machine cannons and fired them at the Eypon. _

_The Eypon flew forward and slammed into the Zero, knocking it backwards and through the wall behind it. The Zero continued firing its machine cannons, forcing the Eypon to leap upwards toward the ceiling._

_"I was born to lead a life drenched with blood. It's too late to evade those sins. Let's finish this now, Heero!"_

_The two Gundams faced each other like knights with their swords raised for a charge. Heero stared down at Zechs' image on his comm screen sadly. _

_"You ought to be seeing your future!" _

_The Zero and Epyon stood across from each other. The expanse of the hallway seemed to shrink. The Zero's eyes flashed green along with the Epyon's. The two warriors flew toward each other at great speed. Both mobile suits raised their sabers to strike. The sound of scraping metal echoed throughout the hallway. The Zero and Epyon landed in crouched positions on opposite sides. Heero stared into the blackness at the end of the hallway. Zechs did the same. The Zero stood erect and looked over his shoulder at the Epyon. It was still crouching. Heero saw the Epyon's head look down. With a loud clank, the Epyon's left arm fell to the floor. The sound reverberated for what seemed like an eternity._

_Zechs looked down and closed his eyes. He heard the Zero's footsteps coming toward him._

_"Why didn't you kill me?" Zechs finally spoke._

_Heero remained silent. Why had he let Zechs live? Perhaps it was that long-buried compassion he had told Arys about. It seemed like ages ago that he had spoken to her about their past memories. He had been fighting and killing for so long. It was time for the killing to end._

_"Heero?" Quatre's visage popped up on Heero's comm screen. The fourth pilot looked drained, but other than that, he seemed fine._

_"What is it, Quatre." Heero's voice was monotonic as it usually was, but inside, he was glad to see that the Arabian boy was still alive._

_"Thank God I've finally found you! This block is still plummeting towards the earth!" Quatre sounded frantic._

_Heero clamped his hands around the controls of his Gundam. "Understood... I'll annihilate the propulsion system."_

_The Zero blasted down the corridor toward the block's propulsion system, leaving a defeated Zechs behind._

_Duo wildly swung the Deathscythe around, trying to take out as much of the corridor around him with each swipe from the blade of his scythe. "Before this chunk falls to the earth, we'll chop it into little pieces!"_

_He slammed the scythe into the ground below his feet, gouging a hole in the floor._

_Trowa shot his double gatling gun into the walls of another corridor far away from Duo, shredding them to pieces. "Never forfeit hope until the finale. That's what I learned piloting the Heavyarms."_

_Arys fired the Archangel's Shiv rifle at the ceiling, dropping shrapnel into piles around her. She pulled out her beam saber and began slicing into the walls, reducing them to ribbons of steel. As a last-ditch effort, she powered up her beam emitters. Putting the Archangel's hands together, she fired off a large blast. The hallway shuddered. "This is our way of redeeming ourselves for the trouble we caused in this war."_

_Quatre bowed his head as a jolt of pain shook him, but he raised his head, fighting it off. "Our chances of success are almost nil... but it's better than not doing anything!"_

_An explosion nearby rocked the Sandrock and Quatre struggled to keep the Gundam upright. A mobile suit caught the Gundam, keeping it from falling._


	13. Epilogue

**Face of the Enemy**

**Epilogue**

"Is the war really over?" Relena asked.

Members from all sides of the war sat in the MO-II resource satellite's conference room, discussing the terms of the new treaty. Though none of them were directly involved, they still wished to understand the terms since they were the ones who had fought for it. Lady Une had already left the satellite to confer with the colony representatives.

Noin sat beside Relena, her eyes still sad. She was not sure if Zechs was alive or dead, but she held the words Arys had spoken to her close to her heart.

"He's alive; I know he is..." Noin kept murmuring under her breath.

Relena glanced at Noin worriedly. "Noin?"

Lucrezia Noin raised her head to see Relena's violet eyes fastened on her face. "I'm fine, Relena."

"What I'm wondering is how the Earth and the colonies are going to arrange for peace. They've been at each other's throats for so long, they may not remember what it was like to even have peace." Sally leaned back in her chair, eyeing Relena. Wufei sat next to her and he nodded in agreement with her words.

Relena shook her head. "The Earth and the colonies have to learn, Sally. Fair trade and equal treatment will more than likely bring about an agreement."

"I think we need some kind of organization that exists for the sole purpose of keeping the peace," Noin said with conviction.

Sally glanced at her friend. "You mean, something that basically exists to extinguish any skirmishes that occur."

"Exactly."

Relena nodded. "That would help. An agency that identifies the spark and then takes care of it before it can become a wildfire. What would you call such an organization?"

Sally smiled at Relena and then leaned back in her chair with a knowing look in her eye. "The Preventers."

Duo spoke up. For once he had actually been listening instead of talking, but at this point, he had to give his opinion. He stood to his feet. "I, for one, just want some peace and quiet for a while."

Noin put a hand on Duo's shoulder. "Duo, we're not asking you Gundam pilots to help us in this endeavor. Having you as part of the agency would be an incredible boost, but we're not going to make you do this."

Duo looked relieved. "Good. Maybe later I could handle something like what the Preventer agency is all about, but not right now." He sat back down.

Quatre looked doubtful. "With my father gone, someone needs to run the Winner corporation." He shrugged. "That someone's me."

Duo patted Quatre on the back. "No sweat, Quatre. You could help out with your resources."

Quatre brightened. "That's right!" He turned to Sally and Noin. "Whenever you need help financially, I can provide the money!"

Sally and Noin looked at each other and then back at Quatre. Noin nodded. "Sounds good to me."

Trowa's quiet voice came from the far end of the table. "I have a job at the circus, and Katherine needs me."

Wufei snorted under his breath, but Duo glared at the Chinese boy warningly. Wufei covered up the snort with a cough.

"Wufei?" Sally gazed at him expectantly.

Wufei waved her off. "Sure, I'll join. I don't have anywhere else to go..." His voice trailed off bitterly.

Sally's eyes saddened, but Noin briskly nodded. She scanned the seats at the table and noticed that two people were still missing from their conference.

"Does anyone know where Heero and Arys are?" She asked.

Duo put his hands behind his head and leaned back in his chair casually. "Who knows with those two? They could be working on their Gundams, talking in the hallway outside the door, discussing enemy tactics, leaving the satellite via a..."

Everyone in the room turned and glared at Duo. "Shut up, Duo!"

Duo stopped talking for a moment, tilted his head arrogantly, and rolled his eyes at the group. "Sheesh. What'd I say?"

Arys stood in an observation lounge far away from the conference room. She gently caressed the glass of the viewport in front of her. The glass felt cold, with the vacuum of outer space. And hanging like an expensive Christmas ornament amongst the stars, Arys saw the Earth. They had just saved it from an ageless winter that would have killed every living thing on its surface. She traced the outline of one of the visible continents with a slender finger, following the coastline absently. It was so blue, so full of life. Arys wondered if she belonged there or in outer space. She had always lived in outer space though, in her mind, never on the Earth. Did she even deserve to live on such a planet? She who had killed so many and felt dead inside? Arys gripped her bandaged shoulder with the other hand; she had almost been killed herself.

"It's so beautiful..." Arys murmured, echoing the words she had heard Zechs say many times as he stood beside her in the stargazer room. She would never forget the wistful tone of his voice as he pointed out the location of the Cinq Kingdom, his home, or what had formerly been his home. Many of her fellow pilots believed Zechs to be dead, but Arys knew better. And she had seen the look in Noin's eyes. The former OZ soldier also knew that he was alive.

The sound of a door opening behind her interrupted her thoughts and Arys focused on the reflection of the approaching figure in the glass. He was dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a white T-shirt, a welcome change from his usual outfit. He walked up beside her, not looking at her, instead staring out the viewport. Arys found herself closing her eyes in gratitude that he had lived, that he had come back to her. Who was she thanking? She didn't know. Outside, she thought she saw one of the stars wink at her. She smiled slightly.

Heero saw the slight upturning of her lips. He put a hand on the glass as she had done only a few minutes before. He pulled it away almost immediately, feeling the coldness of space on the other side of the glass. He turned his head to look down at her.

"Why are you smiling?"

Arys chuckled, low under her breath. "You kept your promise, Heero."

Heero's hand reached out for hers. He bent down to whisper, "I tried."

Arys squeezed his hand and turned so that she could see his eyes. They were dark and seemed to reflect the starlight flowing into the room from outer space.

"Quatre was right," She whispered back, her gray eyes searching his wonderingly. And with a certainty she had never felt before, she knew where she belonged. Not on Earth, but with this boy who was quickly becoming a man, who perhaps was already a man. She reached up to touch his cheek with her free hand. He took her hand. A man trapped in a boy's body. His eyes were so... old, so much older than they should have been.

"I can see myself in your eyes..." Heero said softly. "Not only a reflection of my face but of my inner self. You've seen too much, Arys, just as I have."

Arys nodded. "Yes..."

"I saw a picture of you when you were ten years old. What caught me were your eyes..." Heero's voice trailed off. "They were so... sad."

"We've both had to grow up too fast, Heero. The others as well." Arys lowered her gaze from his face. "It's very sad what this war has done to children like us."

Heero remained silent. Arys could feel his eyes boring into her and she shivered slightly. He released her hands and took her shoulders.

"Arys... I..."

Arys' head shot up and she pinned him with her steel gaze. He froze. "Heero, you came back because of me, didn't you?" Tears welled up in her eyes. "I never should have let you make that promise... What if you had failed the Earth because of me?"

Heero shook his head. "I did come back because of you and the promise I made, but there were other reasons..."

Arys put a finger to his lips. "You don't have to tell me, Heero. I trust you."

He looked down at her, wondering how he had ever lived before without the girl standing before him.

Arys' arms circled his neck. Her melancholy mood disappeared and she smiled at him. "What matters is that you succeeded and you survived." Her sharp tone softened, lowering to a husky whisper. "And I'm so glad."

Heero could not resist any longer and put his arms around her waist, drawing her close against him. Before bringing his lips to hers, he looked down into her eyes, feeling ready to drown in their gray depths. They were so soft, so inviting, and Heero took the invitation without hesitation. Both closed their eyes as their lips met, and both felt as if the world could have ended right there and neither would have noticed. Neither felt the need to say "I love you" because both already knew.

Duo walked into the observation lounge, a more-than-irritated look on his face. He glared at the couple standing by the viewport and then cleared his throat loudly. Heero and Arys broke apart and turned in each other's arms to glare at Duo. He stood by the door, tapping his foot impatiently. He crossed his arms over his chest.

"I knew it! I just knew it! I've been looking for you guys everywhere!"

Heero and Arys' eyes lost their angered look, and the two burst into laughter.

Duo looked confused and the anger faded from his eyes. "What'd I say?"


End file.
